Naruto's Blue Dragon
by Kurama no Kyubi
Summary: When Sasuke seemingly dies in front of Naruto, he awakens a power that havent been seen in a long time, the Blue Dragon.
1. Chapter 1

**Naruto's Blue Dragon**

**A/N This is a Naruto/Blue Dragon crossover and like in my other stories, jutsus will be in Japanese while I'll have the Shadows attacks in English. Now read and enjoy.**

"Blue Dragon" Normal speech

'_Blue Dragon' Normal thought_

"**Blue Dragon" Biju and Shadow speech**

'_**Blue Dragon' Biju and Shadow thought**_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Blue Dragon and I never will.

Prologue

Uzumaki Naruto looked up from where he was, only to see his rival, Uchiha Sasuke having taken the hit for him. As Sasuke looked over his shoulder, Naruto noticed the senbon needles that went into his neck.

"You alright, you dope?" Sasuke said.

"Why did you do it Sasuke, why?" Naruto asked.

"I hated you."

"Then why?"

"I don't know, my body just moved on its own." Sasuke said before he fell backwards and Naruto cached him.

"So I guess this is it. My brother, I never got to kill him." Where Sasuke's last words before he drifted of, into the world of unconsciousness.

Haku only watched the seen in front of him from one of his ice mirrors, preparing to kill Naruto as well, but then something happened that no one could have predicted. Naruto's shadow suddenly rose up from the ground and got a physical for…the form of a blue dragon.

Elsewhere on the mist covered bridge was Hatake Kakashi trying to figure out where his opponent, Momochi Zabuza where hiding until he suddenly sensed an incredible chakra.

'_That chakra, could Naruto have unlocked his Kekkei Genkai?_' He then got a scroll from one of the pockets on his jonin vest and said "Zabuza, I'm a busy man and you're a busy man. So what do you say to ending this quickly?"

"And what did you have in mind to ending this quickly?" Kakashi then bit his thumb as he unrolled the scroll and he drew a line of his own blood over the open scroll. He then made a hand sign and slammed his hands and the scroll on the ground while saying "Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu."

"You can't find me in this mist Kakashi!" Suddenly several dogs came out of the ground and they managed to hold Zabuza in place.

Back with Naruto and Haku had the battle quickly turned around when Naruto's shadow had come out of the ground. Right now where Haku trying to avoid the dragon's attacks by jumping from mirror to mirror, but at this rate all of his mirrors would soon be destroyed.

Suddenly the dragon let out a powerful roar which destroyed the remaining ice mirrors and sent Haku a ways back. Naruto then ran towards him as he prepared to finish him off, but then Haku's mask fell of just before the dragon could hit him.

At the same time in a large room filled with a yellow glow, there were seven chairs around a table and behind each chair was a statue. One of the statues looked like the dragon that Naruto's shadow changed to. On six of the chairs were people sitting while one of the chairs was empty.

"It seems Minato-san's son, Naruto has awakened the Blue Dragon." Said the oldest of the group, who also appeared to be the only adult. "Shu, you must go and teach him how to control his Shadow."

One of the apparent pre-teens stood up nodded and left the room.

"Y-you?" Naruto said as he looked at Haku's face just as the blue dragon went back into his shadow and everything suddenly went black when he fainted, due to the shock of suddenly activating his Shadow.

Chapter preview

Naruto "Where am i?"

Shu "Hello, my name's Shu, Namikaze Shu. And I'm your ancestor."

Naruto "You're my what…?"

Shu "Next time on Naruto's Blue Dragon: Shadows

Character status

Naruto: level: 2

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Oroike, Harem, Kage Bunshin.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken, fuma shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Blue Dragon.

Sasuke: level 3

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Bunshin, Katon: Goukakyo.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken, fuma shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.

Haku: level 5

Techniques: Hissatsu hyoso, Makyo hyoso, Senatsu suisho.

Weapons: senbon.

Kekkei Genkai: Hyoton.

Kakashi: level: 30

Techniques: Raikiri, Magen: Narakumi, Doton: Shinju zanshu, Doton: Doryuheki, Doton: Moguragakure, Fuja hoin, Katon: Goukakyo, Genjutsu: Sharingan, Kirigakure, Raiton: Kage Bunshin, Taju Kage Bunshin, Sennen Goroshi, Kage Bunshin, Sairento kiringu, Kuchiyose, Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga, Mizu Bunshin, Suiton: Daibakufu, Suiton: Suijinheki, Suiton: Suiryudan.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.

Zabuza: level 30

Techniques: Kirigakure, Mizu Bunshin, Sairento Kiringu, Suiro, Suiton: Daibakufu, Suiton: Suiryudan.

Weapons: Kubikiribocho.

**A/N: Seems like Naruto has gotten himself a new power, but this doesn't mean that he's gonna be all godlike, just check his level, it's even lower than Sasuke's. Well, anyway, it will probably be a while till my next update since I'm writing 8 stories at the same time. So to pass the time, please read my other stories and be free to review.**


	2. Shadows

**Naruto's Blue Dragon**

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but since I'm writing 8 consecutive stories, I decided to concentrate on only one story each week and I've finally gotten to continuing on this one, so read, enjoy and review.**

"Blue Dragon." Normal speech

'_Blue Dragon.' _Normal thought

"**Blue Dragon." Biju and Shadow speech**

'_**Blue Dragon.' **_**Biju and Shadow thought**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything.

Chapter 1: Shadows

Naruto woke up in what looked like some sort of sewer system, he had absolutely no idea where he was or how he got there.

"Where am I?" He asked before he started walking, hoping to find a way out of there.

After he'd walked for what seemed like hours, he finally got into a large room with a giant cell in it. And curious, he looked through the bars of the cell, but quickly jumped back when four massive claws came through.

"**So, my jailor has decided to come to visit!"** A voice said and the blond looked up to see two large eyes and a set of razor-sharp teeth.

"A-are you…?" Naruto stuttered.

"**If you're wondering if I'm the most powerful of the 9 Biju… then yes, I'm the one you know as Kyubi!"** The gigantic nine-tailed Kitsune said.

"Are you the one who brought me here?" Naruto asked.

"**No, that'd be him!"** Kyubi said and Naruto turned around to see a boy that seemed to be his age, with black hair in a ponytail just like a certain lazy, good for nothing, whining fool, he had pointy ears and blue eyes. He wore a strange, squared robe with the squares on the top left and bottom right, blue and the squares on the top right and bottom left, black and in the middle, there was what looked like an eye with a blue pupil.

"Hello, my name's Shu, Namikaze Shu. And I'm your ancestor." The boy said.

"You're my what…?" Naruto said, hardly believing what he'd just heard.

"As I said, I'm your ancestor!" Shu said.

"But how's that possible, you're the same age as me!" Naruto said.

"Actually, I'm 4012 years old!" Shu stated.

"4012? But how's that possible?" Naruto asked.

"I can't go into details, but let's just say that I've ascended beyond the realm of any mortal man!" Shu said.

"But where is this place anyway?" Naruto asked.

"You mean you haven't noticed yet? Man, you're slow… runs in the family, I guess. Even after 4000 years!" Shu said before chuckling and continuing "This, my dear descendant, is your mind-scape. Basically where you've got that thing locked up!" Shu pointed at Kyubi at the last words.

"My mind-scape…?" Naruto asked, not having a clue to what Shu's talking about.

"You're nothing like you're father…! Your mind-scape is basically an entire world within you! Everyone has one, though only Shadow-wielders and Jinchuriki's can enter them!" Shu explained.

"Wait, you're telling me that we're inside my head?" Naruto asked, obviously freaked out.

"Well, it's more like your stomach, but you get the point! Don't worry though, you can exit at any time, there's just something that I would have to explain to you first!" Shu said.

"And what's that?" Naruto asked.

"About Shadow-wielders like yourself for example!" Shu said.

"Shadow… wielders? What's that?" Naruto asked, confused.

"First I'll have to explain about Shadows themselves; you see, a Shadow is basically a physical manifestation of chakra – much like the Biju, only not nearly as powerful – that resides in your Shadow, there's only really seven true Shadow-wielders around the world, the direct descendants of a group known as the "Seven soldiers of Light"! I, myself is a direct descendant of one of them, and so, you're a direct descendant of him as well! But even though there's only supposed to be seven, there was a man 4000 years ago that found a way of artificially creating Shadows!" Shu started explaining.

'_I'm really lost here, but I'll play along!'_ Naruto thought, not having a clue about what Shu was telling him.

"Also, Shadows usually tend to take the form of different animals, for example; like me, your Shadow is in the form of a Dragon and his name is Blue Dragon! And Shadow-wielders are people that can control Shadows, though there were originally only supposed to be seven of them, that number is now much higher due to the fact that even some artificial Shadows were able to be passed on from generation to generation, just like a Kekkei Genkai. We believe that there are a total of 99 different clans that have dormant Shadows!" Shu explained.

"So it's a Kekkei Genkai like the Sharingan?" Naruto asked.

"Well, it's a great leap from the Sharingan, but I guess you could call it a Kekkei Genkai… a very common yet almost completely unknown Kekkei Genkai." Shu said.

"Cool, so I've got a Shadow?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, but I must say, I'm quite surprised, not even your father was able to awaken his Shadow before he was a jonin… and you've barely graduated from the academy." Shu said.

"Wait, you know my father?" Naruto asked.

"Sure, and I could tell you who he was too, but you must promise to only tell the people that you can trust!" Shu said.

"Sure, I promise and I never go back on my word!" Naruto said.

"Good. Your father's name was Namikaze Minato… he was the Yondaime Hokage, the man who sealed Kyubi inside off you!" Shu said.

"What…" Was all Naruto was able to say, after all he just found out that his father was the person that pretty much ruined his life… what could he say?

"I understand that you must be angry with him, but I'm sure that he sealed Kyubi within you because he truly believed that you'd be able to control the fox!" Shu said.

"Well… in that case I won't let him down!" Naruto said, determined to find a way to control Kyubi.

"**I wouldn't have my hopes up kid, there's many who have tried to control me before, but none has succeeded!"** Kyubi said.

"Heh… what about Hashirama-san and Madara, they were able to control you!" Shu stated.

"**That doesn't count! They hypnotized me, I was under their control. The controlling that you've been talking about is more of a cooperation of human and Biju!" **Kyubi said.

"Yeah, but they were still able to control you, I know it because I saw it!" Shu said.

"**One more word from you, and I'll be eating Dragon meat for dinner!"** Kyubi said as he thrusted his claws in-between the bars of his cell and Shu, instinctively took a couple steps back.

"And how'll that happen when you're stuck in that cell of yours?" Shu asked before turning to Naruto "Naruto, you'd better return to the outside world now, your teammates are starting to get worried about you! Oh, there's one more thing, I would like it if you could try and locate the other six of your generation of the Seven soldiers of Light. I've got a feeling that they'll be needed soon."

"Okay, but how shall I find them? After all, you said that there are 99 entire clans with Shadows, so how am I supposed to know that it's those six?" Naruto asked.

"Simple, they're Shadows are in the forms of; a Minotaur, a Phoenix, a Saber-Tiger, a Hippo, a Pharaoh and a Chimera! I suggest that you also talk to Kakashi-san, Jiraiya-san, Tsunade-san and Hiruzen-san about this; they'd be able to help out! Also I'll return to help you master your Shadow!" Shu said.

"Alright, thanks… so how do I get out of here anyway?" Naruto said.

"Don't worry about it, I can get you out!" Shu said as he placed his hand on Naruto's head and a bluish glow came out of Shu's hand before Naruto vanished.

Tazuna's house

Naruto woke up in a bed in Tazuna's house and sitting by the bed was Tsunami, and she slightly jumped when Naruto's eyes suddenly jumped wide open.

"Oh, you're awake!" Tsunami said before walking off to tell the others and shortly after was Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan, Inari, Tsunami and Sasuke in the room.

"S-Sasuke? I thought Haku killed you!" Naruto said when Sasuke walked in.

"Apparently, Haku only put him in a death-like state, like he had done with Zabuza!" Kakashi said.

"Oh, that's right, what happened to Zabuza and Haku?" Naruto asked.

"Well, Naruto…" Kakashi then went on to explain what had happened after Naruto had collapsed. Apparently, just before Kakashi could finish his charge at Zabuza, Gato appeared with a small army of thugs and Zabuza killed Gato, while Kakashi and Haku gave the thugs a scare; Kakashi, by creating several Kage Bunshin and Haku, by creating a bunch of ice needles. And even the villagers showed up to chase the thugs away. After the battle Zabuza and Haku left to find another way to raise money to try and build an army so they could assassinate the tyrant Mizukage, Yagura.

"So they left, huh?" Naruto asked.

"Pretty much!" Kakashi replied.

"Say, Kakashi-sensei, could I talk to you alone for a minute?" Naruto asked.

"Sure." Kakashi said and the others left the room "What is it?"

"Well…" Naruto said and he started explaining about what happened in his mind-scape and about what Shu-san had said.

"I see… so he told you about your father, did he?" Kakashi said and Naruto slowly nodded.

"But Kakashi-sensei, who're Hiruzen, Jiraiya and Tsunade?" Naruto asked.

"You know Hiruzen-sama quite well, Naruto. He's the Sandaime Hokage!" Kakashi said.

"Jiji?" Naruto asked shocked and Kakashi gave an eye-smile and nodded.

"As for Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama, well Jiraiya-sama's your god-father! And Tsunade-sama's his teammate." Kakashi said.

"Wait, my god-father…?" Naruto asked and Kakashi nodded.

Land of Waves, Zabuza's hideout

What neither, Naruto nor Kakashi had noticed however was that before leaving, either Zabuza or Haku had placed a microchip on Naruto that was connected with another one that they had with chakra, and they had heard everything.

"So, the brat's the son of the Yondaime Hokage!" Zabuza said.

"Zabuza-sama, what are we gonna do with all of this information?" Haku asked.

"Nothing, though those Shadows might help us against Yagura. I wonder if we could find any of these "Seven soldiers of Light"!" Zabuza said.

City of Light

Shu was walking through the corridors of the large city, which seemed to be bathed in a golden light.

"Shu, may I speak to you for a moment?" A voice behind him said and he turned around to see a boy – no older than him – with short black hair, a green tunic with a black shirt underneath and silver pants, and he had a sword that laid horizontally just above his tail-bone. And just like Shu, he also had pointy ears.

"Sure, Jiro. What is it?" Shu said.

"Why'd you place a Dragon Scale on Naruto?" Jiro asked.

"To protect him of course, plus that particular Scale should be able to make him smarter, if only just slightly!" Shu replied before turning around "Was that all?"

"Yes." Jiro said.

"Good, now if you'll excuse me, Noi has summoned me!" Shu said before walking off.

Chapter preview

Shu "I hate people that bully those who're smaller than them, so if I were you, I'd put him down right now!"

Jiro "Goukakyo… you really thought that you could beat me with a technique that I invented?"

Sasuke "A technique you invented? What are you talking about? The Goukakyo's been in my clan for generations!"

Kabuto "Okay… the least I can do is give you sweet little babies some vital intelligence on what you're in for… with these shinobi info cards."

Sasuke "Do you have anything on Namikaze Shu, Uchiha Jiro and Ra Bouquet? All three from Ryu."

Jiro "Next time on Naruto's Blue Dragon: The Chunin exam."

Character status

Naruto: level: 2

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Oroike, Harem, Kage Bunshin.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken, fuma shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Blue Dragon.

**A/N: And that's Chapter 1, now as you have probably figured out it's the Blue Dragon anime that it's crossed over with and not the game. Also I won't tell you who the Seven soldiers of Light are, you'll just have to figure that out for yourself.**


	3. The chunin exam

**Naruto's Blue Dragon**

**Chunin exam arc**

**A/N: I forgot to mention last chapter that you could make your own suggestions and opinions about who could be this generation of the Seven soldiers of Light, and who from Shu's gang, they're descended from, but be warned, I might completely ignore your suggestions 'cause I pretty much already have found out who could be six of the seven, including Naruto.**

"Blue Dragon." Normal speech

'_Blue Dragon.' _Normal thought

"**Blue Dragon." Biju and Shadow speech**

'_**Blue Dragon.' **_**Biju and Shadow thought**

**Disclaimer: **Naruto is owned by Kishimoto Masashi-san and Blue Dragon's owned by Toriyama Akira-san, I guess.

Chapter 2: The Chunin exam

It's been 2 months since team 7 returned to Konoha from the Land of Waves and since they returned to the village, Shu has appeared several times to teach Naruto how to control Blue Dragon, of course he made sure that the only ones who ever knew that he was there were Naruto, Kakashi-san and Hiruzen-san. Naruto wondered of course how his ancestor could just appear, seemingly out of nowhere, but he didn't question it. After all, there was a lot of weird stuff about the 4012 year old pre-teen.

One day, after team 7 had finished a mission, Naruto ran into the Sandaime's grandson, Sarutobi Konohamaru and his two friends Udon and Moegi. The three of them had idolized the blond genin and had come because Naruto had promised that he'd play ninja with them. Sakura, who was nearby heard the conversation and couldn't believe that Naruto, a ninja was going to "play ninja". Konohamaru mistook her for Naruto's girlfriend and this eventually led to a chase scene which ended with Konohamaru bumping into a boy in a black cat-like suit.

"That's gotta smart!" The boy said before picking up Konohamaru by his collar.

"Konohamaru!" Naruto yelled.

"That hurt, snot-face!" The boy said.

"Knock it off. We're gonna get it as it is!" The blond girl that was standing next to the boy said.

"It was my fault. I was fooling around…" Sakura said before thinking '_Who are these people?'_

"Put him down, you big ape!" Naruto yelled.

'_These guys must be genin from Konoha!' _the boy thought before saying "I just want to play with him a little… while we're waiting for the nuisance to get here!"

"You better put him down if you know what's good for you!" Naruto yelled as a blue aura started surrounding him.

"NARUTO!" Shu's voice called out and the aura faded instantly, but as Naruto looked around, he found no trace of Shu and it seemed as though he was the only one that heard him.

'_What the heck was that? Was it his chakra, but you're not supposed to be able to see chakra!'_ The girl thought.

"Hey! you in the black cat-suit! Release him now and I'll go easy on you, goon!" Naruto yelled and Sakura brought her arms around his neck, choking him.

"You're the goon! Do you want that guy to beat you up?" She whispered before releasing the blond.

"You're starting to annoy me! First off, I'm allergic to "shrimp"! Bad enough that you're a short little kid… you're disrespecting your elders! You make me want to kill him!" The boy said.

"What?" Naruto and Sakura yelled.

"I… will not be held responsible for this…" The girl said.

'_Who is he? This is not good!'_ Sakura thought.

"So I'll finish with this tiny shrimp… and move on to the jumbo shrimp over there." The boy said while clenching his fist a thrusting it towards Konohamaru's head, but before his fist could make contact, something grabbed it and the boy looked down to see Shu – with his back to him – holding a tight grip on his wrist.

Naruto was surprised to see that the 4012 year old boy, not only showed himself in front of several people, but he even had new clothes on. He wore a black sleeveless shirt, grey shorts and he even a blue Hitai-ate with the symbol of what looked like a dragon on it, said Hitai-ate.

'_Who's this kid? And how did he get here so suddenly? It's as though he just appeared out of nowhere.' _The boy thought.

"I hate people that bully those who're smaller than them, so if I were you, I'd put him down right now!" Shu said.

"Heh, and you expect me to be afraid of a shrimp like you?" The boy said before he attempted to get out of Shu's hold, but said "kid's" hold was too tight.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with, do you?" Shu said before releasing his hold on the boy's wrist and grabbing his other wrist so tight that the boy was forced to release his grip on Konohamaru, who then fell down to the ground while Shu kicked the boy so hard that he flew into a wooden wall.

"Kankuro-nii-san!" The girl yelled, not believing that her younger brother had just been beaten by a mere kid so easily.

"All right, now you've done it!" The boy, now identified as Kankuro said as he got up on his feet and he took an object that was wrapped in bandages off of his back.

"So you're name's Kankuro, is it? The oldest son of the Kazekage of Suna?" Shu said before looking at the girl "Then that must mean that you're the Kazekage's daughter, Temari!"

'_Well, he seems to know a thing or two about me and Kankuro-nii-san!' _The girl now identified as Temari thought as Shu suddenly looked up towards a tree and saw that Sasuke was sitting on a branch and under another branch was a brown-haired kid standing with his feet planted on the underside of the branch.

"You can come down now… Gaara!" Shu said and Kankuro and Temari looked up, shocked at seeing Gaara there, while Sasuke was shocked that someone had managed to get so close to him, without him knowing.

"G-Gaara…" Kankuro said.

'_He… he snuck up beside me… I didn't even have a clue! His stealth skills rival Kakashi's.' _Sasuke thought before looking down at Shu '_But he still managed to notice him, who is he?'_

"It annoys me that you'd lose control in a quarrel with children! Have you forgotten why we came here?" Gaara said.

"But Gaara… they started it. The little one slammed me!" Kankuro said while pointing at Konohamaru who had gotten over to Naruto and the others.

"Shut up… or I'll kill you." Gaara said.

"You're right. I was out of line." Kankuro said.

"We're sorry… okay, Gaara? Really, really sorry!" Temari said.

'_So he's in charge. Eh? He glares like a basilisk.'_ Sasuke thought.

"Sorry about my friends." Gaara said before disappearing in a twirl of leaves and reappearing in between his siblings "I know we're a little early… but we didn't come here to play around. I swear it won't happen again."

"Hey, you there! What's your name?" Sasuke asked as he also appeared on the ground.

"Sabaku no Gaara at your service. And you are…?" Gaara said.

"Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke said.

"And you…?" Gaara asked as he looked at Shu who was standing next to the Uchiha.

"Namikaze Shu of Ryugakure!" Shu said.

"Never heard of that village before." Gaara said.

"I'm not surprised, not many people has. I suppose you could say that our village is in a VERY isolated location… though we still manage to keep tabs on the rest of the world!" Shu said, leaving out the fact that the "village" or rather city is located in the sky.

"I see, let's go." Gaara said as he turned around and the three Suna-nins disappeared.

"Are you guys okay?" Shu said as he turned around to look at Naruto, Sakura and the Konohamaru corp.

"Y-yeah, thanks for the help Shu-san." Naruto said.

"Nah, don't worry about it." Shu said.

"I'm Haruno Sakura, by the way… and the jerk here's Uzumaki Naruto." Sakura said, not noticing the frown that appeared on Naruto's face when she said "jerk".

"Nice to meet you." Shu said, pretending not to have met any of them before.

"How'd you do that?" Sasuke asked.

"So you're an Uchiha, right? Nice for you." Shu said, completely ignoring Sasuke's question.

"Wait a minute, Shu-san. What are you doing in Konoha?" Sakura asked.

"Ah, well. I'm here for the Chunin exam!" Shu said.

"Chunin exam?" Naruto asked.

"That's right. Twice each year, the chunin exam is held so that genin like ourselves can get a chance to become chunin and shinobi from several villages participate each time." Shu explained.

"So there's genin from many different villages coming here?" Naruto asked and Shu nodded.

"You all should enter, I'm certain that you could get far in the exams!" Shu said before turning around and waving goodbye as he ran off while saying "Well, it was nice meeting you, but I've got to get back to my team. See ya."

On a tree branch were three shinobi that had watched the entire scene, believing that they hadn't been noticed.

"What do you think?" One of them asked.

"None of them are of any importance… except for the raven-hair, the spook from Suna and the boy from Ryu. Keep an eye on them." Another one said.

Team 7's meeting place, the next day

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were waiting for Kakashi to show up and after several hours, he finally showed up.

"Morning, guys! Today, I wandered a bit from the path of life…" Kakashi said.

"You are such a liar! Would it kill you to at least pretend you're sorry?" Sakura yelled, not believing Kakashi-sensei's story one bit.

"In any case. This may surprise you… but I've recommended all three of you for the chunin exam." Kakashi said.

"SAY WHAT?" Sakura yelled.

"You have to fill out applications." Kakashi said as he pulled out three application papers and each of the three genin grabbed one before their sensei continued "If any of you don't wish to compete, the exam is entirely voluntarily. The choice is yours. You needn't turn in those application forms unless you want to. If you do, report to room 301 at the school by 4:00 tomorrow afternoon. That's all."

Kakashi then shunshined away and the three genin started heading for their respective homes.

"The chunin exam! I'll bet there'll be a lot of tough competition." Naruto said before thinking '_I hope I can get through without having to use Blue Dragon.'_

'_I might get to face off against that spook. Or maybe even the one from Ryu.'_ Sasuke thought.

'…_I… don't want to. Forget Sasuke-kun… I can't even keep up with Naruto. This exam would be too much for me.'_ Sakura thought.

Konoha, ninja academy, the next day

Team 7 met outside of the academy before they headed in and Sasuke had noticed that there was something wrong with Sakura. Once they were inside, they came to a door with a large crowd outside and there were two kids blocking the door to room 301.

"Is someone as talentless as you really planning to take the chunin exam? Why bother? Bunch of wet-behind-the-ears snotnoses! Snerk." One of the kids said after having knocked a kid with a bowl-cut, a green spandex suit and a red Konoha Hitai-ate around his waist.

"You said it!" The other one said.

"Please… we're begging you… let us in." A girl that was probably the kid's teammate pleaded before taking a few steps towards them, but one of the two kids that were blocking the door simply just knocked her to the ground.

"…That's just cruel…" One of the kids that were in the crowd said.

"What did you say? You misunderstand! We're just trying to save you… the chunin exam is incredibly difficult… and we should know. We've failed three times so far there are people who made it, then immediately gave up being shinobi… others who ended up crippled… some reduced to vegetables… we've seen it all! Besides that, chunin are team commanders. They lead their units. The responsibilities for failed missions and dead shinobi rest firmly on their shoulders. And you little punks have the nerve to apply? Snort. We're saving a step by weeding out the obvious losers beforehand." The one that knocked down the girl said.

"That sounds good in theory, but you better let me through. And drop the Genjutsu while you're at it. I have business on the third floor." Sasuke said as he, Naruto and Sakura approached them.

"So you figured that out, eh?" One of the two kids said.

"It was easy. Right, Sakura? You were probably the first to notice it. You're the most analytical and the best in our team at understanding Genjutsu." Sasuke said, winking at the last part and Sakura felt her confidence return to her.

"Of course I noticed it. Obviously we're still on the second floor." She said and the sign that said 301 changed to 201.

"Hey… not bad. But just seeing through it isn't… ENOUGH!" One of the kids said before moving in to kick Sasuke and the Uchiha attempted to counter with a kick of his own, but the kid with the bowl-cut suddenly appeared in-between them and grabbed their legs like it was nothing.

'_He's so fast! He perceived the attack patterns on both sides and planted himself in the nexus of both their kicks… is that even possible?'_ Sakura thought.

'_Wow, he's almost as fast as Shu-san.'_ Naruto thought.

'_He blocked my kick! But there's something weird about his chakra.' _Sasuke thought after the kid had released him and the other one.

"Hey… that's not what we agreed! You're the one who insisted we should avoid drawing attention to ourselves." A boy with white eyes said as he approached the one with the bowl-cut.

"B-but…" The boy said as he looked over at Sakura and blushed.

"Here we go again…" The girl said while shaking her head and the one with the bowl-cut walked over to Sakura.

"Hi. My name is Rock Lee. You're Sakura, aren't you? Would you like to go out with me? I'll protect you with my life!" The boy, now identified as Rock Lee said.

"NO… WAY. You are way out of hand!" Sakura said and Lee slumped.

"Hey, you! What's your name?" The boy with white eyes said as he approached Sasuke.

"It's common courtesy to give your own name first." Sasuke said.

"You're a rookie, aren't you? How old?" The boy asked.

"I don't have to tell you a thing." Sasuke said and the two boys turned away from each other and walked in opposite directions '_This exam… is turning into a freak show.'_

Ninja academy, gym

When team 7 were in the gym of the academy on their way to the third floor, Lee appeared above them and challenged Sasuke to a fight. Long story, short, Sasuke was quickly defeated by Lee's speed even though he used the Sharingan.

Before Lee could deliver the finishing move however, his sensei, Guy intervened and the fight came to a halt and the members of team 7 was freaked out by Lee and Guy's man-hug after Guy had punched the kid.

"I know Lee started this fight, but take pity on his old teacher. For the sake of my own self-respect, forgive him." Guy said.

"Hey, I see you took my advice of entering the exam." The four genin and one jonin turned towards the voice to see Shu and two others.

One of them was a boy with short black hair, a green tunic with a black shirt underneath and he had silver pants. He also had pointy ears and had a green Ryu Hitai-ate, and he had a sword that was lying on his back, just over his tail-bone.

The last one was a girl with black hair in two ponytails and she wore a blue maid uniform. She also had pointy ears and a purple Ryu Hitai-ate.

"Yeah, and we're gonna pass!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I wouldn't put my hopes up if I were you! There aren't really that many that pass the exam when it's held, and besides there's never been a rookie that have ever passed." The boy said.

"You never know Jiro, I think they've got a pretty good chance." Shu said.

"It doesn't matter what you think, Shu. They're nothing but weak rookies!" Jiro said.

"Hey, don't put me together with the two of them, I'm an Uchiha!" Sasuke said.

"An Uchiha, huh? So what? There's nothing special about your over-rated clan!" Jiro said.

"What was that?" Sasuke asked.

"Just what I said, your clan is just like any other, nothing more, nothing less." Jiro said.

"All right, that's it!" Sasuke said as he snapped and weaved a series of hand signs "Katon: Goukakyo no jutsu."

The fire ball went straight for Jiro, but said boy simply stood there and let the ball of heated gas hit him, but when the smoke cleared everyone was shocked to see Jiro, still standing, unscathed.

'_What…? His clothes aren't even damaged!'_ Sasuke thought.

"Goukakyo… you really thought you could beat me with a technique I invented?" Jiro asked, shocking Sasuke.

"A technique you invented? What are you talking about? The Goukakyo's been in my clan for generations!" Sasuke said.

"I suppose that you could say my name's Uchiha Jiro!" Jiro said and everyone's eyes widened.

"Uchiha, you say? That's impossible! The Uchiha clan was massacred and Sasuke was the only survivor" Guy said.

"And what if I told you that one of my parents was an Uchiha that had left Konoha?" Jiro asked.

"So, there's still other Uchihas around, huh?" Sasuke said.

"Yes, so you see. I should understand better than anyone that our clan is nothing special." Jiro said.

"Geez, Jiro-san. I think he gets the point already." The girl said before looking over at Naruto '_Seems like he's inherited Shu-kun's handsomeness.'_

'_I wonder if these guys are as old as Shu-san.'_ Naruto thought before the girl suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Well hello there handsome, I'm Ra Bouquet, what's your name?" The girl, now identified as Bouquet said.

"Um… Uzumaki Naruto…" Naruto said as he blushed and took a couple of steps back due to how close she was, while the others on the other hand was surprised at her speed, not even Guy had ever seen someone move so quickly… and he'd seen the Yondaime at his fastest.

"Uzumaki Naruto, huh? Nice name, what do you say to meet up and we can get to know each other better later." Bouquet said while smiling and in the background Shu sighted. It seemed that two of the Seven soldiers of Light couldn't marry each other because then the next generation of "Seven soldiers of Light" would only be six, but there was nothing stopping her from trying to hook one of his descendants… she even attempted to get Minato-san, but Kushina-san beat her to it.

'_Will she ever give up?' _Shu wondered.

"Um… s-sure, I guess." Naruto said nervously before thinking '_I can't believe someone over 4000 years is asking me on a date… though she is pretty I guess.'_

"Great." Bouquet said before walking happily back to her two teammates.

"So, could you guys show us where room 301 is?" Shu asked.

"Sure." Naruto said.

Ninja academy, hallway outside room 301

Team 7 and team Shu walked towards the door to room 301 to find Kakashi waiting outside.

"Glad you made it after all, Sakura. This way you all qualify to apply for the chunin exam." Kakashi said.

"…What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"The way the test is set up, it can only be taken by three-man teams." Kakashi said.

"But… Kakashi-sensei, you said it was up to us to decide whether or not to apply. Were you lying?" Naruto said.

"I said what I had to to keep your partners from pressuring you into coming along. Even if you had no interest in applying, one word from Sasuke and you'd have come along and gone through the motions, though your heart wouldn't have been in it." Kakashi said.

"What would have happened if Sasuke-kun and Naruto had shown up without me?" Sakura asked.

"I'd have washed them out right here. None of you would have gotten past this point without both of the others. But you're all here because you want to be. And I'm very proud of you. Now get in there!" Kakashi said, eye-smiling at the last part and the three Konoha genins walked through the door and the Ryu genins followed them before stopping next to where Kakashi was standing.

"You'll watch over them, won't you?" Kakashi asked and Shu nodded.

"We'll make sure that they won't get into too much trouble." He said before walking in with his teammates.

Ninja academy, room 301

Team 7 was shocked to see so many applicants in the room, there had to be over a hundred. Suddenly a girl with long blond hair in a ponytail and purple clothes jumped onto Sasuke's back and hugged him.

"Sasuke-kun! Where've you been, cutie? I could hardly wait! It's so exciting, seeing you again after all this time!" The girl said.

"Ino, you pig! Get your hooves off Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled.

"Hello to you, too, Sakura. Still hoping the big, mutant forehead look is going to come into fashion, huh? How sweet." Ino said.

"What did you say?" Sakura yelled as Ino's two teammates, Shikamaru and Choji walked over to them.

"Why don't you three save yourselves the embarrassment of flunking this test? Go die, okay?" Shikamaru said.

"Hey! There you are!" They turned towards where the voice came from to see Kiba, Hinata and Shino.

"Uh… hi…" Hinata said.

"Looks like the gang's all here." Kiba said.

"Including you… unfortunately!" Shikamaru said.

"So… I guess all three of this year's newbie trios decided to apply, huh? I wonder how far we'll all get. What do you think… Sasuke?" Kiba said.

"Trying to psych us by acting cool, Kiba?" Sasuke asked.

"Who's acting? The way we've trained, no way can you beat us." Kiba said.

"Oh, shut up! You guys won't even beat me, much less Sasuke!" Naruto yelled.

"I-I'm sorry Naruto-kun… Kiba-kun didn't mean that the way it sounded…" Hinata said while twiddling her fingers.

"Would you guys do us all a favor and just shut up?" They turned towards the voice to see a man with silver hair in a ponytail, glasses, purple clothes and a Konoha Hitai-ate.

"You three gangs of would-be hotshots are all genin, right? Kids barely out of the local ninja academy? All wet-behind-the-ears and runny-nosed! This isn't a school field trip, you know. Who the heck do you think you are? Name's Kabuto. So what? You kids need to open your eyes." The man, now identified as Kabuto said.

"Why?" Sakura asked as she and the others noticed the Ame team behind them that looked rather annoyed to say they the least.

"Watch out for the group behind you. They're Amegakure shinobi and they've got very short fuses. Everyone's on edge, waiting to take the exam. I wanted to give you a heads-up before someone snaps and beats the crap out of you." Kabuto said.

'_They don't seem that tough.'_ Naruto thought.

"But it's probably unavoidable. Like all rookies, you think you already know everything. I remember what it was like." Kabuto said as he reached into his weapons pouch.

"Kabuto-san?" Sakura said.

"Yeah?" Kabuto said.

"Are you saying that this is the second time you've applied?" Sakura asked.

"Not second… seventh, twice a year for… hm, going four years now." Kabuto said.

"Wow… then you've got a lot of experience with what we can expect!" Sakura said.

"I guess so." Kabuto said as he pulled out several cards "Okay… the least I can do is give you sweet little babies some vital intelligence on what you're in for... with these shinobi info cards."

"Shinobi info cards?" Sakura asked.

"To put it simply, they contain information about the skills we use, transformed into symbols and burned into the cards using chakra." Kabuto said as he put down the cards on the floor. He then took one of the cards and laid it down in front of the rookies.

"It took me four years to collect all the intelligence needed for this exam. In all, there are almost 200 cards. They look blank, don't they? The only way you can read the data on the cards is by using my own personal chakra. Each set is linked to its possessor for example, cards like this one…" Kabuto said before channeling chakra into the card.

"What's he doing?" Ino asked before a map of the elemental countries appeared on the card.

"It's some kind of combination map and bar graph, in three dimensions! What kind of intelligence is this?" Sakura said.

"It shows how many applicants each shinobi nation is sending to this session of the chunin exams. There's a total of 156 applicants for the exams with 87 from Konoha, 30 from Suna, 21 from Ame, 6 from Taki, 6 from Kusa, 3 from Oto and 3 from a village named Ryu." Kabuto said.

"Do you also have dossier cards? Cards for each individual applicant?" Sasuke asked.

"Ha ha… Why? Someone here you have a particular interest in? I'll admit these are far from complete, but I've burned a set of dossier cards for the current pool of applicants, including your team. If you share any data you have on this person who interests you, I'll be happy to look him up and let you know what I have so far." Kabuto said.

"Sabaku no Gaara from Sunagakure and Rock Lee from Konoha." Sasuke said.

"You know their names? No sweat, then!" Kabuto said before took out two cards.

"Let me see them." Sasuke said and Kabuto laid down the card for Rock Lee first.

"First up is Rock Lee. He's a year older than you guys. Missions to date: 20 D-ranked, 11 C-ranked. His team's mentor is Might Guy. And his Taijutsu skills have grown exponentially this past year. He has no other talents worth mentioning. He was considered a standout among last year's genin, but he didn't apply for the chunin exam. He's a first timer, like you guys. His teammates are named Hyuga Neji and Tenten." Kabuto said before laying down Gaara's card.

"Next is Sabaku no Gaara of Suna. 8 C-ranked missions… 1 B. wow! Not many rookie shinobi get B-ranked assignments! Since he's from way out in the desert, I have less on him… but it's interesting. He's come back from every mission completely unscathed. Without a scratch…" Kabuto said before Sasuke decided to see if there was anything on the three from Ryu.

"Do you have anything on Namikaze Shu, Uchiha Jiro and Ra Bouquet? All three from Ryu." He said and Kabuto pulled out three cards, but all three were completely blank.

"It seems like I don't have anything on them, sorry I couldn't be of any help." Kabuto said and Sasuke looked over at Shu, who was talking with Naruto, Jiro, who was checking out the competition and Bouquet, who was flirting with Naruto.

"Konoha, Suna, Ame, Kusa, Taki, Oto, Ryu… this year every hidden village has sent outstanding genin here to compete. I don't know much about Otogakure no sato. It's part of a new, small nation, so intelligence on it is lacking. Every other competing village is well-respected, home to some formidably powerful shinobi." Kabuto said.

"Anybody besides me suddenly feeling kind of outclassed?" Hinata asked.

"What you're trying to tell us is… everyone here…" Sakura said.

"Oh, yeah. They're all like Lee, Gaara… elite hand-picked shinobi, the best young ninja in the world. They have to be! The test is pitiless!" Kabuto said.

Three shinobi were quickly moving through the crowd, but Shu, Jiro and Kabuto seemed to be the only ones to notice them, Bouquet would've probably noticed them too, but she had other things on her mind. One of them suddenly jumped into the air before throwing two kunais at Kabuto, but he easily dodged it. However another one came up in front of him and swung his right arm.

'They're from Oto…' Kabuto thought before dodging the Oto-nin's arm, but suddenly his glasses shattered and he took them off while thinking 'I see, this kind of attack… is… hmmm…'

"What's going on? He dodged the blow, but something broke his glasses!" Sasuke said.

"His nose probably got grazed… serves him right for acting all superior." Shikamaru said.

Kabuto then suddenly collapsed on his knees and vomited. Everyone in the room that saw it was taken off guard by it, having thought that the guy had dodged the blow.

"Are you all right?" Sakura asked as she got over to Kabuto.

"Yeah… I'm fine…" Kabuto said.

"You're a pushover, aren't you? Pretty sad for someone who's been an applicant for four years now." The one who had attacked Kabuto said.

"Better add this to your cards. The three applicants from Oto will all make chunin this year!" The one who had thrown the kunais said.

'I know Kabuto ducked that blow… so what happened to him? Why did he vomit?' Sasuke thought.

Elsewhere in the crowd was Lee's team trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Lee, what did that look like to you?" The boy with white eyes, which must be Neji asked.

"Kabuto-san saw through the attack… so there must have been something else to it, some trick they used to make him sick." Lee said and suddenly there was a large puff of smoke at the front of the classroom.

"Would everybody please just shut up?" A voice came from the smoke and said smoke dissipated to reveal the first exam proctors.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting. My name is Morino Ibiki. I'm the proctor and chief examiner for the first part of the exam." One of the proctors said, he had several scars on his face and a black jacket over his jonin vest and he wore his Konoha Hitai-ate like a bandana.

'_Ibiki-san… as scary as ever I see.'_ Shu thought, having met the guy before and Ibiki pointed at the three Oto-nins.

"You… the kids from Oto! You can't carry on any way you please when the exam's about to start! Or do you want to be disqualified?" Ibiki said.

"Sorry, sir… it's our first exam, and we got a little carried away." The Oto-nin that had attacked Kabuto earlier said.

"Is that so? Then it's high time that someone laid down a few ground rules. From this point forward, there will be no more fighting without the express permission of the examining officer… and even if that permission is granted, anything that dangers another applicant's life is strictly forbidden. Any of you little piglets who break that rule are out. Disqualified. No second chances. Got that?" Ibiki said.

"So this is a test for little girly men?" One of the Oto-nins said.

"As you wish. The first part of the selection exam is about to commence. Turn in your written applications, take one of these seating assignment cards…" Ibiki said before he held up a card with the number "1" on it "And report directly to the seat indicated. When everyone's seated, we'll pass on the written part of the test."

"Huh? A-a paper test?" Naruto yelled and Shu walked over to him and handed him a small blue crystalline object "Huh? What's this?"

"A Dragon Scale, they've got many unique qualities. If you hold this one over a question, it'll reveal the answer!" Shu whispered before walking to get a seating assignment card.

Everyone was given seating assignment cards and papers before taking a seat, each paper had ten questions on them, or rather, they had nine questions on them with the tenth question supposed to be given to them at the last 15 minutes of the test. Everyone also started out with ten points and each time they missed a question, they would lose a point and if one member of a team would miss all questions then the entire team would be disqualified. Also if someone were caught cheating 5 times then they and their entire team would be disqualified.

"You have an hour… starting… NOW!" Ibiki said and the test started.

'…_Say it isn't so… this could be a no win situation… please, Naruto… hang on to at least one of your points!' _Sakura thought, not knowing what Shu had given the blond.

'_Heh… this thing actually works.' _Naruto thought as he looked through the Dragon Scale and it looked like the part of the question that was under it changed to the answer and he wrote said answer in the answer box next to the question.

'_Whatever Shu gave Naruto, I hope it's working.'_ Sasuke thought, having probably been the only one who saw Shu handing Naruto the weird crystal.

'_Whoa. First up is cryptography. They want us to work our butts off!' _He thought.

'_I wonder how Naruto's doing…'_ Sakura thought before looking down on the paper '_…But I've got to concentrate on my own work! I've got to hang on to all of my points, to make up for him. Um… number two… "The parabola marked B represents the greatest effective distance the enemy shinobi, A, could throw a shuriken from the top of a 23.3-foot-tall tree. Calculate the specific features of the scenario and deduce the range of the shuriken's effectiveness, assuming a consistent speed for shinobi A's assault upon any enemy shinobi operating within the arc that the flight of the shuriken describes. Show your work." This… this is… to solve this, you need to hypothesize under very uncertain conditions… and then apply the laws of kinetics to whatever you come up with! There's no way Naruto could solve something like this! Of course neither can most of the people here. It's a killer… 'course, I can answer it.'_

'_Well, well… I don't know how to answer a single one of these questions. And what's the deal with number ten?'_ Sasuke thought before looking towards some of the proctors that were sitting by the windows '_They're watching us, like cats watch mice. Like they expect us to cheat. Those rats! With so many proctors looking over our shoulders, they're probably watching every little thing every one of us does… making notes about us in their gradebooks!' _Just then Sasuke saw that one of the proctors started writing something '_The axe has fallen somewhere!'_ He then remembered some of what Ibiki had said.

"If you let the proctors catch you cheating, you'll bring yourself and your friends down! If you aspire to become chunin… if you want to be the best shinobi you can be… then you'd better start acting like you already are!"

'_Hold it! Unbelievable… this is an "intelligence" test in more than just the academic sense! They're also testing our information gathering skills! They WANT us to cheat… like shinobi! Without getting caught! Shinobi must look underneath the underneath. The proctors want us to cheat really well! The way the best shinobi would, if they needed this kind of information in a real-world mission! Look at how they set up the "perfect score, minus penalties" scenario! With two points deducted every time you get caught cheating the real message is that you can be caught four times before you face disqualification! What we're being tested on is not whether we know the answers, but how skillfully we can discover them!'_ Sasuke thought.

Kiba's dog, Akamaru sat on top of his master's head, scouting out the answers and telling them to Kiba.

"Woo-hoo! Good boy, Akamaru! Next is question number four…" Kiba whispered to the small mutt.

A bee landed on Shino's paper and the stoic boy picked it up on his finger and whispered "Excellent! Tell me more!" The bee then started flying in a number 8 pattern '_Number eight, huh?'_

At one of the light bulbs in the ceiling where several mirrors that Lee's female teammate, Tenten had put up there earlier and she adjusted one of them slightly with nearly invisible threads so that it showed the reflection of one of the papers.

'_Lee, if you can see it, adjust your Hitai-ate…' _She thought and as though he'd read her thoughts, he took off the Hitai-ate and tied it around his forehead.

'_I'm glad Kluke-chan taught me how to read.'_ Shu thought as he looked through a Dragon Scale that he had created for himself.

Neji closed his eyes and when he opened them again, veins had popped up around them.

'_Byakugan!'_ He thought and he looked straight through the guy in front of him.

'_That's the one. I'm going to mimic his every move! Using the Sharingan!' _Sasuke thought as he activated his eyes.

'_I might not be able to create Dragon Scales like Shu, but I can still do this!'_ Jiro thought as he closed his eyes and when they opened again, they revealed what looked like the Sharingan, but instead of red eyes with three black tormoes, it was green eyes with three red tormoes. Jiro then looked around the guy in front of him.

'_that's it! I've answered them all! There's nothing left for me to do but to wait for the tenth question.'_ Sakura thought, not realizing that this is what Ino's bean waiting for.

'_It looks like Sakura has finally stopped writing. Time to make my move! Sakura… your broad brow and big brain have earned my respect, so you ought to feel honored that you're going to be the target of my signature technique! Well then, here it comes…'_ Ino thought before her body slumped over the desk, as her mind entered Sakura.

'_Sorry, Sakura… not. Sakura, you're a dear, letting me possess you like this… and see all of your answers!' _Ino thought as she picked up Sakura's paper and started looking through the answers while thinking_ 'Have to memorize this quickly, before someone catches me. Next I'll possess Shikamaru and Choji, and write these answers on their papers! Clever little me!'_

'_Time for me to turn invisible!'_ Bouquet thought as she turned invisible, she'd have to thank Rotta-san for making her some clothes that became invisible whenever she turned invisible.

'_Impressive, those Ryu-nins just keep on impressing me! wonder what they'll come up with next.'_ Ibiki thought as he were probably the only one that had noticed Bouquet's little vanishing act. He had met Ryu-nins on several occasions and was one of the few people in the world that actually knew where their power came from. He then looked over at Gaara '_That brat is up to something! Whatever it is, he's doing it without turning a hair… perfectly calm in the eye of this hurricane. For a rookie, he's amazing.'_

Gaara was gathering sand into his left hand, forming an eye of sand.

'_My optic nerve is reconnected… opening my third eye!'_ Gaara thought before he crushed the eye and the sand was dispersed throughout the room.

"Excuse me." Kankuro said as he stood up.

"What is it?" One of the proctors asked.

"I've got to go to the bathroom…" Kankuro said and one of the proctors walked over to him and put handcuffs on him.

"Of course. One of the proctors will accompany you." The proctor said.

"Why not?" Kankuro said.

Ninja academy, men's bathroom

"They think they're so slick! And they never even noticed that there's been one extra proctor this whole time! Pretty sad! Nice going, Crow!" Kankuro said as the skin around the proctors left eye fell off and Kankuro sighed "Now then, give me all the answers in order, starting with number one."

Ninja academy, room 301

'_Now that we've weeded out the worst of the slackers… let's move on to the most important question. 45 minutes have passed. The time has come.'_ Ibiki thought before saying "All right! Here it comes. Get ready for the tenth question."

'_You better hurry back, Kankuro-nii-san! I was supposed to get your first nine answers before they gave us the tenth question.'_ Temari thought.

"And before we get to the question itself… I'm adding one more new rule." Ibiki said, but before he could say any more, Kankuro came back.

"Heh… looks like you're in luck. The time you've spent playing with dolls hasn't been completely wasted." Ibiki said.

'_Dolls… does he know about scarecrow?_' Kankuro thought as he walked back to his seat, handing a note with all the answers on it to Temari as he passed her.

"Let me explain. This rule… is absolute." Ibiki said.

Konoha, jonin lounge

Kakashi, the sensei of team 8 Yuhi Kurenai and the sensei of team 10 Sarutobi Asuma were sitting in the jonin lounge, talking.

"Wow… with our subordinates tied up in exams, we've got time on our hands." Kakashi said.

"Don't worry. We'll be busy again before you know it." Asuma said while sighing.

"Why?" Kakashi asked.

"Word is, this year's first chief examination officer is Morino Ibiki-san." Asuma said, this caught the attention of a man that weren't sitting very far away from the three jonin.

He had long blond hair, pointy ears and he wore a golden uniform with the symbol of a long forgotten kingdom on it, he also had a scar over his left eye and a golden Ryu Hitai-ate on his forehead.

"Did you say Morino Ibiki?" The man asked.

"You heard of him?" Asuma asked as he looked over at the man.

"Yeah, they say that there's no interrogator like him." The man said.

"You're right, he's a pro's pro at torture and interrogation! Konoha ANBU torture and interrogation corps unit leader jonin commander, Morino Ibiki! In the exam that is presently underway… while there may be no physical torture… there's no doubt that the applicants are being subjected to the psychological pressures that make him infamous as an interrogator." Asuma said.

"Heh, Ibiki may be as good as you say, but he won't crack my team, they can take things a thousand times worse than what Ibiki could throw at them… trust me." The man said.

Ninja academy, room 301

"First… you must choose whether to accept or reject this tenth question!" Ibiki said.

'_Accept or reject…? What's he getting at?' _Sasuke thought.

"What do you mean choose? What the hell happens if someone doesn't accept the question?" Temari asked.

"If you reject the question and don't even try to answer it, you'll lose all your points immediately… and fail! And both of your teammates will fail right along with you." Ibiki said.

"Say what?" Bouquet yelled.

"Then why would anyone choose to reject it?" A Suna-nin that sat next to her yelled.

"Because… of the other rule." Ibiki said.

'_Oh, come on. What more can he add?_' Sakura thought.

"If you try to answer the question… and you get it wrong… you will never be permitted to apply for the chunin exams again. Not ever." Ibiki said.

"You can't be serious. That's ridiculous! There are ninja here who've sat for the chunin exams more than once already! We know there are!" Kiba yelled while Akamaru barked and Ibiki started laughing.

"Just your rotten luck. I wasn't making the rules in past years. I am now. I've been up front with you. You can take a failing grade now, and try again later. Anyone who has doubts would be smart to reject the tenth question right now. Come back and reapply next year, and the year after that." Ibiki said.

'_Talk about a no-win situation! If even one member of a team rejects the question, then all team members fail for the year. If anyone accepts the question and can't answer it… he'll be stuck at genin level for the rest of his life!'_ Sakura thought.

"Ready? Then let's begin. Those who choose not to accept should raise their hands. Once their number has been confirmed, they will leave the room." Ibiki said and during the next few minutes, several teams rejected the question.

Konoha, jonin lounge

"That Ibiki-san… understands the human heart completely. It's what makes him so terrible. He uses his insights mercilessly to manipulate his foes… bringing their human weaknesses to the surface… and using those weaknesses to make them crack! Trickery is no defense against his skills as an interrogator." Asuma said.

Ninja academy, room 301

Naruto suddenly raised his hand before slamming it right back down on the desk.

"Never underestimate me! I don't quit, and I won't run! I'll accept your stupid question! Even if I risk ending up a genin for the rest of my life… I'll still become Hokage, even if I can only make it by pure stubbornness. I don't care! I'm not afraid of you" He yelled, inspiring the rest of the genin in the room to stay as well.

'_He… never even gave us a thought. But he certainly does have guts._' Sasuke thought.

'_Man, this is embarrassing…'_ Shu thought.

"I'll ask you one last time. This is a decision that could affect the rest of your life. Quit now while still have the chance." Ibiki said.

"I never go back on my word. That's my nindo!" Naruto said.

'81 of them are still here. Hm… an entertaining kid. And interesting. He dispelled everyone else's doubts along with his own. More than I expected but… there's no point in dragging it out. Thanks to him… no one else will quit." Ibiki thought before he looked towards the other proctors and they all gave affirmative nods.

"Good call. So everyone who is still here…" Ibiki said and all of the genin that were still in the room prepared themselves for what was to come "… you've just passed the first exam!"

"What do you mean, "passed"? What happened to the tenth question?" Sakura asked.

"There is no tenth question… beyond the whole "accept or reject" thing." Ibiki said.

"Hey, then why did we have to suffer through the other nine questions? That was a total waste of our time!" Temari yelled.

"There was no waste. Those questions had a purpose, which they've already served." Ibiki said.

"Such as?" Temari asked.

"Our goal was to test your skills… at spying!" Ibiki said.

'_He seems like a completely different person_.' Bouquet thought before saying "Our skills at spying?"

"Remember the rules at the beginning? You pass or fail as part of a three-man team. With that rule, I pressured you with the fear that anything you did wrong would bring your teammates down with you. However… the questions are beyond the level that genin could be expected to handle. So most of you… having reached that same conclusion had only one way of retaining your points, by cheating. In other words… we set up the test on the assumption you'd cheat. And, to ensure there would be suitable targets for you to cheat from, we snuck in a pair of ringers… two chunin who already knew all the answers." Ibiki said.

"It took me forever to figure out who they were!" A ninja behind Naruto said.

"Oh, yeah. Me too." A ninja behind him again said.

"Of course, anyone who cheated in a clumsy or obvious way… failed." Ibiki said as he took of his Hitai-ate to show that he had burn scars and puncture wounds all over the top of his head and he continued "Because there may be circumstances where being caught in an act of espionage can cost you more than just your life. You pay in ways that can be taken from you little by little, time and time again, when many lives hang in the balance."

'_Burn scars… punctures from where screws were used… long slash marks… he's been tortured!_' Sasuke thought.

'_Cool… I bet his hands are even worse! But that's what he gets for being dumb enough to get captured. It'll never happen to me!_' One of the Oto-nins thought.

"The information you obtain can't be trusted… if you can't keep your presence secret from the enemy. Learn that and learn it well. If you bring back intelligence from a suspect source or a compromised operation… you're doing your enemies' work for them, putting those you serve in danger. That is why we maneuvered you into using your espionage skills to cheat. It was the quickest way of weeding out the students whose skills aren't yet up to stuff." Ibiki explained while putting his Hitai-ate back on.

"Okay… but what was the deal with the tenth question?" Temari asked.

"Ah! The tenth question… was the first real test on the exam." Ibiki said.

"What on earth do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Let me explain… the tenth question was a choice between two options that were both difficult and dangerous. Those who chose to reject were failed, and their friends along with them. Those who chose to accept and couldn't answer the question… lost any chance of ever even trying again. It was a nasty, unfair, no-win set of options. So why do I present them? Let's suppose you all go on to successfully attain the rank of chunin. You are assigned to steal a vital enemy document… knowing nothing about the skills, deployment, or military preparedness of your foe. You may have to cross a territory that has been heavily mined and set with traps. Now… do you accept your mission? Or do you reject it… rather than place your own life – or the life of your companions – in jeopardy? Could any chunin get away with only taking on the safe jobs? Of course not! No matter how dangerous the risk… there will be missions that you cannot decline. A ninja must demonstrate valor that inspires those around him… helping all to overcome their fear. This is the talent that we most value in the commander of a chunin team! Those who can't gamble with their own fate… who would trade today's certain risk for tomorrow's uncertain future… never taking the chance that lies before them are weaklings who make only weak decisions. In my opinion, they don't belong in the ranks of the chunin at all! By choosing to accept, you answered the almost-insoluble tenth question correctly. If you keep that spirit, you can probably conquer all of the many doubts and difficulties you'll face. You've passed the first hurdle. Part one of the chunin selection exam is now concluded. I'll pray you fight the good fight!" Ibiki explained.

Suddenly, something crashed through the window and four kunais were imbedded into the walls of the room to reveal that it was a banner and in front of it stood a woman. On the banner it said "Newly arrived second chief examination officer Mitarashi Anko".

She had black hair in a ponytail, wore a light-brown jacket with a fishnet shirt underneath and she wore her Konoha Hitai-ate on her forehead.

"None of you are in any position to celebrate. I am the second examination officer Mitarashi Anko! Times a-wastin', people. Let's go! Follow me!" Anko yelled.

Chapter preview

Anko "This is the arena for the second exam: training field 44. Also known as… the Forest of Death!"

Orochimaru "For shame, letting your guard down! Stay on your toes, like a good prey should! It makes the chase that much more rewarding… for the predator!"

Shu "Oh no. Sasuke-san and Sakura-san are in trouble!"

Jiro "Come out, Minotaur!"

Sakura "With Sasuke-kun in this condition… now you want to fight him?"

Tenten "It's not like Lee to keep us waiting! It's odd… he's usually such a stickler about punctuality! ...I wonder if he ran into trouble…"

Sakura "What the…? What just happened to Sasuke's shadow?"

Anko "Next time on Naruto's Blue Dragon: The Forest of Death!"

Character status

Naruto: Level: 5

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Oroike, Harem, Kage Bunshin.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Blue Dragon.

Sasuke: Level: 5

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Katon: Goukakyo, Katon: Housenka.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.

Sakura: Level: 1

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Rock Lee: Level: 8

Techniques: Konoha Senpou, Kagebuyo, Omote Renge, Konoha Reppu, Konoha Daisenpu.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

**A/N: Personally I think that was a great way to end the chapter, who agrees with me. anyway, in case you're wondering why Shu and all of his friends have pointy ears, as you may have realized by now, they joined the Legion of Elite Species and therefore they're ears got a little pointy. Also I've decided to put up a pairing poll for Naruto; shall he be paired with Kluke or Bouquet, the smart mechanic maniac or the dumb busty maid or if you want, both?**


	4. The Forest of Death

**Naruto's Blue Dragon**

**Chunin exam arc**

**Kurama no Kyubi:** From now on, the A/N will be like this, and I'll also be answering the reviews here. Also from this story on, the Shadows won't be ranked as Kekkei Genkai.

**Wolfpackersson09:** This is actually a pretty good start with Blue Dragon, but are you going with the Anime or Game? If you go with the Game then Naruto would gravitate to Sword Master Shadow Class. It's just my opinion and I will look for more updates.

**Kurama no Kyubi:** The Anime, but there will be a few elements from the game present as well, including the techniques that are in the game.

**Boyzilla:** I hope you give us the next chapter soon. And hopefully it's based off the game because then that would be awesome. Anime is good too if you do choose to base it off that.

**Kurama no Kyubi:** I am actually planning on writing a Naruto/Blue Dragon game crossover sometime in the future, it'll probably be after I'm done with this story though.

**Boyzilla: **And hopefully this would be a good crossover with blue dragon...PLZ update more as they aren't many Blue Dragon x-overs out there.

**Kurama no Kyubi:** Yeah, I know. It's too bad though, cause Blue Dragon's such an awesome story, whether it's the game or the Anime.

**Flint009:** cool story seen all of your chapters, this is good. Jiro told Sasuke straight, "You can't beat me with a move I created"! that was cool, keep up the good work"

**Kurama no Kyubi:** Thanks.

**Guest:** Nice story so far and I like kluke for naruto. please update soon

**Kurama no Kyubi: **Sorry, but the poll's already taken down, I won't reveal who'll be winning Naruto's heart yet though.

**Archdemon Slayer:** you really should update soon.

**Kurama no Kyubi:** Well, I'd like to say that I have, but then I'd be lying, seeing as though I'm writing this before actually updating.

"Blue Dragon." Normal speech

'_Blue Dragon.' Normal thought_

"**Blue Dragon." Biju and Shadow speech**

'_**Blue Dragon.' **_**Biju and Shadow thought**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything.

Chapter 3: The Forest of Death!

Everyone was standing outside of the fence that surrounded training field 44, also known as the "Forest of Death".

"This is the arena for the second exam: training field 44. Also known as the Forest of Death!" Anko said.

"It looks like a pretty creepy place." Sakura said.

"You're about to find out firsthand… why they call this the "Forest of Death"!" Anko said.

"The Forest of Death? What kind of name's that? I mean c'mon, it doesn't look that scary, right Jiro?" Shu said as he looked at Jiro.

"Oh, really? You're pretty cocky, huh?" Anko said before throwing a kunai that she'd been hiding in her sleeve at the boy, but Shu extended his arm and to everyone's surprise, the kunai just bounced off his open palm as though it was made of steel.

'_He just deflected a kunai, using his palm as a shield… how's that possible?' _Sasuke thought.

"Impressive, maybe you'll stand a chance in the forest after all. Now, before we begin the second exam… there's something I have to hand out." Anko said as she got out a pile of paper forms "They're consent forms. Everybody has to sign one."

"…But, Why…?" Bouquet asked.

"We want all the details covered before the first deaths occur. Sign before you go in, so we can't be held liable. You wouldn't want me to get in trouble, would you? First I'll explain what the second exam entails. Then you can sign the forms. With the other two members of your team, bring the forms to the hut behind you and submit them." Anko said before she began explaining the exam.

The test this time was first-and-foremost a survival test, each team was given either a heaven or an earth scroll and they would have to forcibly take the opposite scroll from one of the other teams and bring both scrolls to the tower at the forest's center without checking their contents and they had to do it within five days. Not to mention that they also had to get past all of the giant carnivorous animals that lived throughout the forest.

"One final piece of advice… stay alive!" Anko said after the explanation and all of the different applicants went on to signing the forms.

"It's almost time to distribute the scrolls." A chunin called out from the hut before pulling up a curtain.

'_Smart! To keep us in the dark, they're concealing which type of scroll each team gets… and which member is carrying it! It's just like that guy Ibiki said… stealing intelligence is a matter of life and death! Everyone is an enemy! And we're probably all equally determined. If we're all willing to fight to the death, this could become a massacre.'_ Sasuke thought as he looked down on his consent form.

'_Heh heh… it's finally starting to sink in… why we want those consent forms!'_ Anko thought before yelling "All right, everyone, follow your proctors to your respective gates! When the signal sounds in half an hour, the exam will begin!" The different teams were then brought to different gates around the forest.

Forest of Death, gate 16

At gate 16 where team 8 waiting for the exam to begin.

"Woohoo! If it's survival skills they want, we've got it made! Don't go soft on us, Hinata!" Kiba said and Hinata nervously looked down on the ground.

Forest of Death, gate 27

At gate 27 where team 10.

"A fight to the death? What a drag… but if it's the only way…" Shikamaru said before thinking '_…Looks like Naruto's our target.'_

Forest of Death, gate 12

At gate 12 where team 7.

"Yeah! Yeah! We can't lose, I tell ya! Anyone comes near us, I'll kill 'em myself!" Naruto said.

'_Oh, please!'_ Sakura thought.

Forest of Death, gate 20

At gate 20 where the three Oto-nins.

'_Heh heh… the time has finally come… to carry out our orders in the open.'_ The one that was obviously the leader of the three thought.

Forest of Death, gate 38

At gate 38 where Kabuto and his teammates waiting.

Forest of Death, gate 6

At gate 6 where Gaara's team.

'_I've got to look out for enemy teams… but five days in the forest with that creepy Gaara… argh!' _Kankuro thought.

Forest of Death, gate 15

At gate 15 where three Kusa-nins.

"Target the rookies first." One of them said.

"It looks like we've got carte blanche to pick them off from here on in which should make our job a lot easier." Another one said.

Forest of Death, gate 41

At gate 44 where last year's rookie team 1.

'_Guy-sensei, I will do my best!'_ Lee thought.

Forest of Death, gate 7

At gate 7 where Shu's team.

"Don't you guys find it ironic that some members of the Seven soldiers of Light where assigned to gate 7?" Bouquet whispered.

"I suggest that we split up, one of us will watch over Naruto's team and one will search for the earth scroll!" Shu said, ignoring Bouquet's question.

"What about the third one?" Bouquet asked.

"I've got a bad vibe about those three from Suna, I'd like the third one to watch them!" Shu said.

"Shu, I suggest that you go and watch over Naruto's team, I'll take care of finding the other scroll and Bouquet should be the one to follow the Suna-nins due to her special ability." Jiro said.

"No, Jiro. I'll search for the scroll, you'll look after Naruto's team." Shu said.

"But Shu, he's your descendant, you should be the one to watch over him." Jiro argued.

"And he's got one of your descendants on his team too, you know!" Shu said.

"Perhaps, but Sasuke haven't even unlocked his Shadow yet!" Jiro said.

"I'll make it **an order!" **Shu said and his eyes started glowing blue.

"Very well, Shu." Jiro said as he bowed to his superior. They might both be of the Seven soldiers of Light, but Shu was still in the Council of Seven, the seven most powerful dragons and leaders of the City of Light, though there were only six of them for the time-being.

"Part two of the chunin exam begins… NOW" Anko yelled and the gates opened.

Forest of Death, gate 15

The three Kusa-nins bust through the open gate, having already decided on what team to attack.

"Those three, right?" One of them asked.

"Go for the brats!" Another one said.

Forest of Death, gate 12

"All right! Let's go!" Naruto yelled as they walked through the gate.

Forest of Death, gate 7

"All right, Jiro, you go and look after Naruto's team, Bouquet-chan, you follow the Suna team!" Shu said and they ran off in three different directions.

Forest of Death, team 8

Three shinobi in black body-suits were jumping through the trees until they heard something and they stopped to look down on team 8 that was standing on the ground below them.

"The tower's where everyone is ultimately going… so we might as well set up traps as close to there as possible." Kiba said before Akamaru picked up the scent of the three ninja that were hiding above them "Found them already, huh? Where are they?"

"Stupid kids… they might as well be shouting, "capture us"! From the sound of things, they know we're somewhere nearby, but they haven't figured out where yet." One of the unknown ninja said before he suddenly felt something on his neck.

"What's wrong? You're as white as a sheet." One of his partners said before noticing a leech that was on the guy's neck and all three looked up to see several other leeches, coming down. The three of them tried to force the leeches off them, but to no avail and they fell down to the ground.

"The flying leeches of Konoha village can sense perspiration and body heat and fling themselves en masse! If you can't get them off your body within five minutes, you're finished. And if you panic trying to get away from them… well… one team down!" Kiba said as one of the three enemy ninja triggered a booby-trap that had been set up by team 8 earlier and the three was trapped in a net, hanging from a tree together with the flying leeches and they screamed.

Forest of Death, outside the gates

"Well… that was fast." Anko said as she stared at the forest.

Forest of Death, team 7

"Did you guys hear someone… scream?" Sakura asked as she looked towards where the scream had come from before turning to her team mates "This place is creeping me out."

"I'm telling you, Sakura-chan, it's bo big deal." Naruto said before felt the need to use the bathroom "… Uhhh… I Gotta take a leak…" He then ran off to find some bushes.

"Oh, man. What a relief. Feelin' good. now." Naruto said when he returned.

"You're in the presence of a lady! Don't be vul…" Sakura was interrupted when Sasuke suddenly punched Naruto, sending him flying into a tree.

'_What the…?'_ The pinkette thought before turning to the Uchiha "S-Sasuke-kun… I appreciate the chivalry, but that was way over the top!"

"Wh-what was that for?" Naruto asked.

"What have you done to Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

"Um. Nani?" Sakura asked, not having a clue about what her crush was talking about.

"Hello! I'm right in front of you… bleeding!" "Naruto" said.

"You're wearing your shuriken holster on your left thigh. Naruto's right-handed. You're even worse at Henge than the real Naruto." Sasuke said just before "Naruto" was engulfed in a puff of smoke to reveal that he was an Ame-nin in disguise.

"Since you've forced me to come clean, why don't you do the same? Which one of you two has the scroll?" The Ame-nin said as Sasuke and Sakura got ready to fight, but just then, the real Naruto appeared and punched the Ame-nin away.

"Ambush me while I take a leak, why don'tcha?" He said.

"You…! How did you get free?" The Ame-nin asked and Naruto thought back to shortly after he'd been tied up.

Flashback

"Uhh… What happened?" Naruto asked as he woke up before he noticed his predicament "Ah! Hey, why am I tied up like this?"

"Someone must've ambushed me, but that means that… Oh, no! I've got to get out of these ropes before they attack Sakura-chan and the teme!" Naruto said as he squirmed around before he got an idea '_Wait a minute…!'_ He then looked around to see if anyone was there '_Okay, looks like the coast is clear.'_ A blue aura then surrounded his body before his shadow rose up from the ground and turned into the shape of a dragon.

"**Really? This is what you're summoning me for?"** Blue Dragon asked as he noticed the blond's predicament.

"Look, just help me out here, will ya?" Naruto yelled and the Shadow let out a sigh.

"**Fine. But next time you're bringing me out, it better be for fighting."** Blue Dragon said before he simply cut through the ropes with one of his claws.

Flashback end

"I'm not telling." Naruto replied to the Ame-nin's question. The Ame-nin then attempted to get away, seeing as though the odds were stacked against him, but Sasuke would have none of that as he weaved a series of hand signs.

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" The Uchiha called out as he sent several fire balls at the Ame-nin who managed to dodge them all before jumping into the trees.

"Oh, no! You're not getting away from me!" Naruto yelled as he weaved a series of hand signs himself. Shu hadn't only taught him how to control Blue Dragon, but he had also taught him a few jutsus.

'_Nani? Since when has the dobe had any other Ninjutsu than Kage Bunshin?'_ Sasuke thought.

"Futon: Kamikaze no Jutsu!" Naruto called out and a wave of wind was sent straight for the Ame-nin, and since wind cannot be seen, the Ame-nin wasn't able to dodge it, and he got several deep cuts over his back.

Sasuke then appeared in front of the Ame-nin with a kunai in hand before stabbing it into the Ame-nin.

"Sasuke…" Sakura said.

"He gave me no choice! Now move! We don't know where his friends are! You got that? Keep standing there, and you'll end up dead!" Sasuke yelled before pulling the kunai out of the Ame-nin.

'_My… arm! This is awful! I thought coming alone would help conceal my presence… instead, it's been my ruin!'_ The Ame-nin thought before leaping away as fast as he could.

'_Gone…'_ Sasuke thought as he landed on the ground.

Shortly afterwards were the three sitting on the ground as they were planning how to find out if one of them is an impostor the next time they get separated.

"Remember this. If we get separated again, we can't trust each other blindly. It could end up the way this did." Sasuke said.

"But what can we do?" Sakura asked.

"The safest thing is for us to have a secret password. That way, we'll know. No matter who they look like or how they sound, if one of us gets that wrong… they're an enemy. Listen very carefully. I'll only say this once." Sasuke said, but what none of t5hem seemed to notice was that there was an enemy ninja underground, eavesdropping.

"It's a poem called "Ninki". When I ask for it, here's what you respond… "We thrive in chaos of the enemy tide. Quiet shinobi don't need dens to hide. Our only concern is to watch and wait until the enemy lowers the gate"." Sasuke said.

"Bingo." Sakura said, indicating that she's memorized it.

"And you expect me to remember that… how?" Naruto asked.

"You are such a dobe. I've already got it down." Sakura said.

'_Very good. Time to pull back and regroup…'_ The one spying on them thought.

Up in the trees was Jiro looking down at the three as well as at their soon-to-be opponent.

'_I wonder if he realized that someone was eavesdropping on them.'_ Jiro thought.

"We need a better password. How about "Blue Dragon"?" Naruto asked and Jiro mentally face-palmed.

"How did you possibly come up with that?" Sakura asked and Naruto started scratching the back of his head as he laughed nervously.

"… heh heh… Well… you see…" He said.

"I'll take the scroll." Sasuke said as he stood up.

Then, a large gust of wind suddenly shot passed them, Sasuke and Sakura managed to jump out of the way, but Naruto was sent flying backwards. Nearby were there three Kusa-nins.

"Stick around, you two. It could be fun. I'll go in alone." One of them said.

Forest of Death, Bouquet

Bouquet jump from tree-to-tree until she stopped on a branch as she saw the Suna siblings facing off against three tough-looking Ame-nins. She wasn't worried about getting spotted of course since she had turned invisible the moment she entered the forest.

"The nerve of those gakis from Sunagakure… daring to take us on. How foolhardy…" One of the Ame-nins – likely their leader – said.

Bouquet then noticed that there were three from Konoha's current list of Rookie 9 hiding in the bushes.

'_Hey, isn't that…?'_ She thought, wondering if she should tell them to get away, though she decided against it, rather hoping that the Suna-nins wouldn't notice them.

"Prepare to meet your maker." The leader of the Ame-nins said.

"Are you going to fight us… or talk us to death? We don't take orders from fossils like you… even if you wow them back in Amegakure." Gaara said.

'_I can't tell whether this group has the heaven scroll… or the earth. Maybe someone else has already ambushed them… and now they have neither.'_ Kankuro thought before looking at his younger brother "Hey, Gaara! I thought we had agreed we wouldn't fight anyone until we found out if they had the scroll we need. There's no point in attacking if we can't profit by it. We should only fight if there's something to be gained."

"I don't want to hear it! Anyone who crosses me… is dead meat!" Gaara said.

'_I hate it when he gets like this… he's so creepy.'_ Kankuro thought.

"Sounds good to me! Ready or not… here I come!" The leader of the Ame-nins said as he grabbed four of the parasols that were on his back and he threw them up into the air before making a hand sign "You're dead kid! Ninpou: Jyoro-Senbon!"

Suddenly senbons were launched from the parasols and shot down towards Gaara from all possible directions and Gaara didn't do anything to move out of the way.

"You're completely surrounded. No gaps… no blind-spots. All 1.000 of these senbons will swarm in response to my chakra, seeking you out like missiles that have locked onto your signature!" The leader of the Ame-nins yelled before all of the senbons made contact, forming a dust cloud from the force '_That was almost too easy.'_

When the dust cloud cleared however, the Ame-nins' eyes widened at what they saw. A shield of sand had come up around Gaara, covering him completely, protecting him from the sharp senbons.

"Is that all you've got?" Gaara asked.

"Impossible… not one senbon… nothing touched him!" The leader of the Ame-nins said before forming a hand sign and several other senbon flew at the sand user, but the sand shield moved in to protect him.

'_A trick like that is useless against Gaara… It was your bad luck that he's the one you wound up facing.'_ Kankuro thought.

"A downpour of 1.000 senbons, eh? Well, it's my turn… heh… to respond with a deluxe of blood." Gaara said.

"Ah…! A wall of sand…?" The leader of the Ame-nins said in surprise.

"Exactly. Infinitely malleable… an impenetrable defense. Only Gaara has ever mastered the art. He draws the sand within the sphere of his own massive chakra… then manipulates it into the shape he needs and renders it utterly solid. Even more remarkably, it is done with no conscious effort on his part. It happens when he needs it to… independent of his will. Any frontal assault on Gaara… is doomed to fail." Kankuro explained.

"N-no… way…" One of the Ame-nins said.

"Those senbons should be able to pierce even a five-millimeter thickness of tampered steel! Kuso!" The leader of the Ame-nins said.

"You're not good enough to touch our Gaara." Kankuro said.

"Shut up, you…!" The leader of the Ame-nins yelled as he charged towards the Suna-nins, but then Gaara made a hand sign.

'_Fine. It's your funeral.'_ Kankuro thought before Gaara stretched out his right arm.

"Sabaku Kyu!" He called out and the Ame-nin was suddenly trapped within a coffin of sand.

"… I can't move…" The Ame-nin said before his parasols fell down on the ground and Gaara grabbed one of them and held it over his head.

"As you see, Gaara has total mastery over the sand on the ground… and in the air as well…" Temari said.

"I can free myself… e-easily…Augh!" The Ame-nin said as he attempted to get out of the sand, but to no avail.

"If you don't stop yapping, I'll seal your lips… and cut off your air. But you're hardly worth it." Gaara said before raising the sand coffin into the air before clenching his fist "Sabaku Soso!"

The coffin of sand suddenly imploded and blood rained down on the battle-field.

"It's quick… and painless. I used far more force than necessary to ensure that. Bitter, crimson tears flow from life-less eyes and mingle with the endless sands… bestowing ever-greater power upon the demon god." Gaara said.

"Here… take the scroll…" The shortest of the Ame-nins said as he put the scroll down "Please… just let us go."

Gaara then threw the parasol away before raising both of his arms and the two remaining Ame-nins were encased in sand coffins.

"Bye-bye." Temari said with a smile as she waved "good-bye" to the two before Gaara clenched his fists, causing both coffins to implode.

'_That guy… H-he's a monster…'_ Bouquet thought before she noticed that Gaara seemed to have set his sights on the three Konoha-nins '_Oh, no! I-I need to do something.'_

Gaara then sent a wave of sand towards team 8's location despite all of his siblings' pleas not to, but just before reaching the bushes, something came down in front of the wave of sand, blocking it.

"You should leave innocent bystanders out of your battles." Gaara's Kankuro's and Temari's eyes widened when the sand dispersed to reveal Bouquet who had extended her right arm as if to defend herself from the sand.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Kankuro asked.

"I'm Ra Bouquet of Ryugakure, and I suggest that you retreat before I'm forced to get serious." Bouquet said.

'_Heh. She's got to have death wish.'_ Temari thought.

"Kankuro, Temari, we're leaving." Gaara said as he turned away from the girl and walked away.

"Gaara?" Kankuro asked, wondering if his brother was sick. This was the first time Gaara had ever turned down a fight, or not killed anyone that looked at him the wrong way.

Gaara for his part didn't know what, but there was something that frightened him about the girl – and not just her, but her teammates as well – that guy, Kabuto had no information at all regarding them, something that was unusual for someone who prided himself on his intelligence gathering skills. Plus, his tenant seemed to get uncomfortable whenever he was around anyone from this Ryu village.

Forest of Death, team 7

Sasuke was hiding in the bushes, seeing if he could find the ones that had attacked them, but he couldn't spot anyone.

"Sasuke-kun!" He then got up on his feet and turned around to see Sakura.

"Sakura…" He said before drawing a kunai "Stay back. Don't come near. What's the password? The "Ninki"."

"Oh! Right! "We thrive in the chaos of the enemy tide. Quiet shinobi don't need dens to hide. Our only concern is to watch and wait until the enemy lowers the gate"." Sakura said.

"Good." Sasuke said before Naruto showed up.

"Yow… Are you guys all right?" He asked.

"Not so fast, Naruto. The password?" Sasuke said.

"Right. "Ninki". "We thrive in the chaos of the enemy tide. Quiet shinobi don't need dens to hide. Our only concern is to watch and wait until the enemy lowers the gate"." Naruto said and Sakura let out a sigh of relief, but then Sasuke suddenly threw a kunai at the blond.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled as he dodged the projectile.

'_Nani?'_ Sakura thought before turning to Sasuke "What are you doing Sasuke-kun? Naruto got the password right!"

"And this time, he's good enough to deflect my attack." Sasuke said.

"Wait just a second here!" Sakura said before "Naruto" was suddenly engulfed by a cloud of smoke.

"Well done." A feminine voice said before the cloud dispersed to reveal a female Kusa-nin "What gave me away?"

"I knew you were underground, eavesdropping on everything we said. That's why I chose that kind of password… The kind the real Naruto would never manage to memorize. Gotcha imposter." Sasuke said.

"I see… Watch and wait, eh? This is going to be more fun than I thought." The Kusa-nin said as she removed the straw-hat she wore.

Forest of Death, Naruto

Naruto was lying at the foot of a tree before waking up seeing as though he had been unconscious, and he quickly got up on his feet.

"Where'd Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme go?" He asked himself before noticing a large shadow looming over him and he looked up to see a gigantic snake "… HUGE!"

'_I-I've never seen a snake that big. Wh-what is up with this forest…?'_ He thought before the snake lashed out with his tail, but Naruto managed to dodge it however.

The blond was then enshrouded in a blue aura as he summoned Blue Dragon.

"**Really? First you summon me to free you from some ropes, and then this?"** Blue Dragon asked.

"Shut up and just help me beat this thing, will you?" Naruto said.

"**Hmph. Fine."** Blue Dragon said.

'_Now that I think about it, this might be the perfect time to test out those techniques that Shu-san taught me.'_ Naruto thought before dodging the snake's tail as it charged at him again.

"Wind Blade!" He called out and Blue Dragon's right hand was covered by a blade of wind before being brought down upon the snake, cutting it in two.

Forest of Death, team 7

"That was another phony Naruto." Sakura stated before thinking '_If he'd been the real thing, he'd have said something like, "what's that stupid password again?""_

"I suppose you'd like to steal our earth scroll, wouldn't you…? Since you've already got a heaven scroll." The Kusa-nin said as she held out her scroll before actually eating it whole "Now… shall we see… just who will be stealing scrolls from whom? We'll fight to the death." Just then, she pulled slightly at her lower eye-lid with one of her fingers and both Sasuke and Sakura saw their own deaths at her hands before falling to their knees.

'… _She's casting… a Genjutsu!'_ Sasuke thought before vomiting '_It's not death… just an incredible simulation. I looked into her eyes… and she made me feel it… and believe it. Wh-who the heck is she…?'_

"Sakura…" He looked over at his female teammate to find her completely paralyzed '_Kuso! If we don't retreat now… we're finished. The only other option is death.'_

"Heh… I imagine you're paralyzed by now…" The Kusa-nin said.

'_Not quite… I can move… just enough.'_ Sasuke thought as he managed to pull out a kunai before the Kusa-nin threw a pair of kunai of her own towards the two as a green aura suddenly surrounded Sasuke's body as he activated his Sharingan and leaped towards Sakura.

The two kunai hit the bark of a tree and the Kusa-nin walked towards where the two Konoha-nins had just been to see a small pool of blood where Sasuke stood.

'_Amazing. The boy stabbed himself so that he would be able to focus on the pain and block out fear and illusion. Heh… Just as I thought, there is far more to this one than to the common prey.'_ She thought.

Forest of Death, Shu, a few minutes earlier

Shu sat in the middle of a clearing, seemingly meditating before three Taki-nins suddenly appeared around him. **(Kurama no Kyubi: Yes, I know it's not like Shu to meditate, but remember, this is 4.000 years after the events of the Blue Dragon Anime, people can change a lot in that time.)**

"Well, look at what we have here." One of the Taki-nins said before looking down at Shu "You shouldn't be sitting around in a place like this all by yourself."

The three Taki-nins smiled as they pulled out their kunais, believing it would be an easy win, and they then charged at the seemingly younger boy. However, then Shu slowly opened his eyes and a powerful gust of wind went out in all directions, and not only knocked the Taki-nins into the trees, but _through_ the trees. Though somehow, their earth scroll was left behind as it floated towards Shu and landed in his hands.

"Ah! Just what the doctor ordered." He said before putting the scroll into his weapons pouch.

"Shu-kun!" Shu turned towards the voice to see Bouquet coming down from the trees.

"Bouquet? What are you doing here? I thought I sent you to follow the Suna team." Shu said.

"I did, but I discovered something about that Gaara guy." Bouquet said.

"Like what?" Shu asked.

"Well, you see…" She was stopped mid-sentence however when both she and Shu sensed a powerful chakra and they instantly looked in its direction.

"That's way too strong for a Genin. Oh no. Sasuke-san and Sakura-san are in trouble!" Shu said Before turning to his teammate "Bouquet, we have to hurry!"

"Right!" Bouquet said as they jumped into the trees.

Forest of Death, team 7

Sasuke and Sakura were currently up in the trees hoping that the Kusa-nin wouldn't find them.

"Speak to me, Sas…" Sakura started, but Sasuke put his hand over her mouth.

_'We've got to move fast, or she'll find us again. The question is how to evade her… um… um… How do we run…? Um…'_ The Uchiha thought.

_'Sasuke-kun is so jumpy… I've never seen him like this…'_ Sakura thought before she noticed a large snake coming down and staring at Sasuke. Sakura then managed to remove Sasuke's hand.

"Sasuke-kun! Snake!" She yelled before the two of them jumped in different directions.

_'Whoa… My chakra is so out of whack, I overlooked a giant snake.'_ Sasuke thought before the snake hissed and the Uchiha almost saw the Kusa-nin when he looked at the snake.

"Yaaaah! Get lost!" He yelled as he threw several shuriken into the snake's head before said snake fell down, dead. Suddenly, the Kusa-nin came up, out of the snake's skin.

"For shame, letting your guard down. Stay on your toes, like a good prey should. It makes the chase so much more rewarding… for the predatory!" She said before slithering up the tree towards Sasuke like a snake, but suddenly came several shuriken and kunai flying down and they embedded themselves into the trunk right in front of the Kusa-nin.

"Sorry, Sasuke…" They all then looked up to see Naruto standing on a branch "I can't remember that stupid password."

"Sweet! Naruto, that was awesome!" Sakura yelled.

"Naruto to the rescue, huh? You're completely psyched to be saving the day… But… now would be a good time to run for your life! This guy is way out of our league!" Sasuke yelled.

"Heh heh… My compliments on your stunning defeat of the giant snake… Naruto-kun." The Kusa-nin said.

'_This guy's a freak. He's a man… but all I can see when I look at him is a snake. Everything about him… snakey. I'll bet that snake was his.'_ Naruto thought.

'_Every time I ever tried to rescue us, he's made things worse. But there must be some way to…'_ Sasuke thought.

"HEY! Why don't you pick on someone your own size…? Or something like that…" Naruto yelled.

'_This is all I can think of…'_ Sasuke thought before deactivating his eyes.

'_Oh… Sharingan… but he stopped!'_ Sakura thought before Sasuke suddenly pulled out the scroll.

"If it's our scroll you want, come and get it! Just… take it and go!" Sasuke yelled.

'_Nani?'_ Naruto thought.

'_Wait a minute…! How come I didn't realize it sooner?'_ Jiro thought as he had watched the whole thing before he jumped down and landed in front of Sasuke.

'_That's…'_ Sasuke thought as he recognized the Ryu-nin.

"It's not the scroll he's after, Sasuke." Jiro said.

"What do you mean? Wait, "he"?" Sasuke asked as he, Naruto and Sakura got confused.

"What you see before you is only a disguise that he used to sneak into the exam. Isn't that right… Orochimaru?" Jiro said as he looked at the "Kusa-nin" and Sasuke's eyes widened.

"You Ryugakure shinobi are quite perceptive." Orochimaru said as he stood up before removing the disguise to reveal a man with long, black hair, pale skin and snake eyes "And not to mention, you have some interesting powers as well." Suddenly a dark purple aura surrounded Orochimaru and Jiro's eyes widened.

"T-that's… How did you get that power?" Jiro asked, yelling at everything but the first part.

"Yes, I suppose you'd want to know, wouldn't you?" Orochimaru said as he smiled.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura! Get as far away as you possibly can!" Jiro said as he himself was enshrouded in a green aura.

"Not a chance!" Naruto yelled as he leaped at Orochimaru.

"Naruto, matteo!" Sakura yelled, but to no avail.

Naruto attempted to deliver a punch to the snake Sannin, but Orochimaru simply side-stepped it before kicking Naruto away. The blond was then enshrouded in a blue aura as he landed on the branch before going through a series of hand signs.

"Futon: Kamikaze no Jutsu!" He called out, but the powerful winds didn't seem to have any effect at all on Orochimaru.

'_I see… This boy must be part of the next generation of the "Seven Soldiers of Light".'_ Orochimaru thought before he noticed that Naruto's shadow started attaining a physical form '_I can't let his Shadow form!'_

The Sannin then appeared in Naruto's face and kicked him skywards and as the blond came falling back down, he weaved a series of hand signs before small, purple flames appeared on his fingertips.

When Naruto came back down, Orochimaru grabbed him by the neck as his tongue suddenly came out his mouth and raised Naruto's jacket as though it was a snake's tongue. The Sannin's eyes then widened upon seeing the seal on the Uzumaki's stomach.

'_Heh heh… The brat of the Kyubi is still alive and kicking. Gogyo Fuin!'_ Orochimaru thought as he slammed his fingers onto the seal, and Naruto's blue aura faded before he fell unconscious and the Sannin threw him away. However, Jiro then grabbed the blond as he landed on the side of a tree and Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened as they hadn't even seen him move.

Jiro then put Naruto down on a branch before turning to Orochimaru as his pupils became green with three red tomoe in each.

'_What is that? It looks like the Sharingan, but it's different.'_ Sakura thought.

'_Those eyes… Don't tell me. Could he…?' _Sasuke thought as he had heard of an alternate version of the Sharingan, however only two people had supposedly ever been able to unlock it, Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Shisui. **(Kurama no Kyubi: I know that – at this point in canon – Sasuke doesn't know about Madara yet, but in this story he does. Besides you'd think that people would learn about Madara at the academy, considering that he **_**was**_** one of the village's founders.)**

"Come out, Minotaur!" Jiro said and suddenly, his shadow rose up from the ground and morphed into the form of a green minotaur.

'_Wh-what is that?'_ Sakura thought.

"A Minotaur Shadow, hm? I hear that that's the third most powerful form of Shadows there are, supposedly only Dragon Shadows and Chimera Shadows are stronger." Orochimaru said before his own shadow suddenly rose out of the ground and morphed into a dark purple snake with arms "Now let's see if your Shadow can hold true to that, and beat my Serpent Shadow."

"Orochimaru, tell me. How do you have a Shadow? Only those connected by blood to one of the Seven Soldiers of Light – one way or another – can unlock a Shadow without outside help." Jiro said as he and Minotaur narrowed their eyes.

"Kukukuku… Well, maybe I did get outside help, or maybe not. It was so long ago, I seem to have forgotten." Orochimaru said.

"Then maybe this will jog your memory a little! Thundaga!" Bolts of electricity suddenly appeared in-between Minotaur's horns and he sent them forward towards Orochimaru like a thunder bolt.

"Shieldaga!" Orochimaru said as he extended his right arm towards the approaching thunder and a shield suddenly formed around both him and his Shadow.

As the powerful lightning hit the shield, a cloud of dust erupted around the Sannin and his Shadow. Suddenly Jiro felt something and he immediately jumped off of the branch he'd been standing on as some kind of shadowy spikes erupted from where he'd just been standing.

'_So, he uses shadow techniques. But even knowing that, someone like Orochimaru might be a difficult opponent. Especially with Sasuke and Sakura watching, which means I can't go all-out. I need to get them out of here, so that I can use my full power.'_ Jiro thought before looking towards the two out of the corner of his eyes, something that didn't go unnoticed by Orochimaru.

"You should always keep your eyes on your opponent. Shadowaga Sword!" Suddenly, Serpent shot towards Jiro and Minotaur with his right hand engulfed in shadow.

"Lightaga Sword!" Jiro said and Minotaur's right hand was engulfed in light before he shot forth and impacted with Serpent as their swords met, creating a large explosion of light and darkness. **(Kurama no Kyubi: What would you expect when a sword of darkness meets a sword of light?)**

Jiro then – under the cover of the explosion – weaved a series of hand signs before ending on the tora sign.

"Katon: Goukaryuendan no Jutsu!" He called out before breathing out several large dragon heads made out of fire towards Orochimaru. He then recalled Minotaur into his shadow before jumping over to where Sasuke and Sakura were still standing.

"The two of you need to get out of here now!" He said before he suddenly felt something hit him in the back of his neck, and he fell unconscious.

"I told you that you should keep an eye on your opponent, namely me." Orochimaru said as he stood on a branch not far from Sasuke "Well, then. Shall we continue?"

"SASUKE-KUN! Naruto may be nothing like you. And sometimes he's a big nuisance, but at least he's got guts! Naruto's no coward! Right?" Sakura yelled and Sasuke thought back to what his brother had said after murdering the clan.

"Ototou, you're pathetic. If you want to kill me, settle for hating me until you can. Hate me… and live. Live like the coward you are. Clinging to life… without honor."

_'NO!'_ He thought as he activated his Sharingan.

_'Heh heh… it appears that the blood of his ancestors is rising up in this one, demanding action.'_ Orochimaru thought.

_'Sasuke-kun!'_ Sakura thought.

_'We'll take our time, so you can show me all your moves!'_ Orochimaru thought.

Sasuke then took five kunais and what looked like a miniature version of a fuma-shuriken out of his weapons pouch, and he held four of the kunais in his right hand, the miniature fuma-shuriken in his left hand and the last kunai in his mouth.

_'I've been living with the hope of one day killing my older brother. I thought it was the most important thing… but maybe I'm the one who's been the dobe all this time! Naruto… Sakura…!'_ Sasuke thought before he leapt into the air _'… Because someone who can't even stand up and do what has to be done at a time like this… wouldn't stand a chance in a fight against… HIM!'_

Sasuke then threw the kunais he had in his right hand, but Orochimaru dodged all of them before the Uchiha grabbed the side of a tree as he threw the miniature fuma-shuriken, but the snake Sannin dodged that too. Sasuke then took the kunai he had in his mouth as he coated it in chakra and he threw it at Orochimaru, but the snake simply sidestepped it.

_'Not bad! The way he anticipates my every move… the accuracy of his targeting… he sees me!'_ Orochimaru thought before he noticed wires attached to the shuriken and kunai, with the one that was attached to the shuriken going back to Sasuke so that the said shuriken moved back towards Orochimaru _'String?'_

"A Sofushasan no Tachi!" Orochimaru said in surprise as the shuriken moved closer to him.

"He did it!" Sakura exclaimed, but then she and Sasuke saw that Orochimaru had caught the shuriken… with his mouth.

_'He flawlessly perceived my escape route and struck along a path I didn't see myself…'_ Orochimaru thought before saying "Heh… such a shame…" He got cut off however when he noticed that the Uchiha had formed the tora sign _'He means to use Katon: Ryuka no jutsu!'_

Sasuke then sent a wave of fire along the wire towards Orochimaru, but Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened as a shield had formed in front of the missing-nin and protected him from the fire.

"That one so young should have such mastery of the Sharingan…! Truly a worthy successor of the honored name of clan Uchiha! In fact… I believe… I want you, after all…!" Orochimaru said.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura yelled as she ran over to where Sasuke was standing before she looked towards Orochimaru and suddenly she found that she couldn't move.

"It's marvelous fun, having you show me all your tricks! You really are his brother, aren't you? You can see – and conceal – things with those eyes of yours that Itachi-san himself never dreamed of!" Orochimaru said.

"Just who the heck are you?" Sasuke yelled.

"I'm Orochimaru, the giant snake. If you'd ever like a rematch… then pass this exam as quickly as you can! I'll see you again, if you manage to defeat the three Oto-nins who answer to me." Orochimaru said.

"Wh-what are you babbling on about? We never want to see your face again!" Sakura yelled.

"Perhaps not… but wishing won't chase me away." Orochimaru said as he made a hand sign before his neck suddenly extended and his head lunged towards Sasuke and bit down on the said Uchiha's neck before Orochimaru's neck retracted.

"I look forward to seeing you again, Sasuke-kun… in the quest for power!" The snake said after his neck had returned to its normal length.

"Wh-what…? Everything… hurts!" Sasuke said as he brought his hand over his neck where Orochimaru had bitten him as three black tomoe suddenly appeared there.

Sasuke then fell down to his knees as a green aura suddenly surrounded him and as he let out a loud scream, his shadow suddenly rose out of the ground and morphed into the form of a green minotaur.

"What the…? What just happened to Sasuke-kun's shadow?" Sakura asked.

"A minotaur… So there's more to this boy than meets the eye, just as I thought." Orochimaru said before Sakura looked at him.

"What did you do to Sasuke-kun?" She yelled.

"Just a little something to remember me by…" Orochimaru said as he began to sink down into the branch, but just then Shu appeared and punched him into the side of a tree.

"Orochimaru, I presume!" Shu said as a blue aura surrounded him and Bouquet landed next to him.

"Another Ryu-nin, eh? Well sorry, but as much as I'd love to play around with you, I'm afraid I have to get going." Orochimaru said.

"Oh no, you don't! Firaga!" Just then, Shu's Blue Dragon rose up and released a powerful wave of flames.

"That's not gonna work on me. Shieldaga!" Orochimaru said before a shield suddenly appeared in front of him, but to his surprise, the wave of flames went straight through the shield and the snake Sannin was forced to jump out of the way and over to another branch '_What? My Shieldaga didn't even slow it down?'_

"It's over for you, Orochimaru." Shu said before he cupped his hands at his side "Blue Explosion!" A beam of blue flames then shot out of Blue Dragon's maw and headed straight for Orochimaru before seemingly hitting him and a large explosion resulted.

"Y-you did it!" Sakura exclaimed.

"No. He escaped… in the last second." Shu said.

Just then, Sasuke let out another scream before falling unconscious as his shadow returned to normal.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura yelled.

Forest of Death, team Guy

Lee, Neji and Tenten were sitting in the forest as they were eating.

"It'll probably start to get light in the next hour or so. We were able to use our first day to secure food and water. Most of the teams will be resting now… making this the best time to act. Let's split up… and reconnoiter for the next half hour. But whatever you find, when the time is up… be sure you're back here. Got it?" Neji said as he dropped a kunai down on the ground with the pointy end first.

"Okay!" Tenten said.

"Roger!" Lee said.

"Good…! Ikuzo!" Neji said and they shunshined in three different directions.

Forest of Death, team 7

Sakura and team Shu had brought Naruto and Sasuke down to the ground before laying them down under a tree which had its roots above the ground. Team Shu had left shortly after Jiro woke up and headed towards the tower, though not before Shu sealed Sasuke's curse mark with a Dragon Scale. What Sakura didn't notice however, was that in the bushes were the three Oto-nins.

"Heh heh… there they are! As Orochimaru-sama commanded, we'll strike at dawn! And our target is Uchiha Sasuke!" The apparent leader of the three said.

"If the other two get in our way, we can take 'em out, right?" One of the other two asked.

"Of course!" The leader of the three said.

As dawn started coming, Sakura was still awake, hoping that Naruto and Sasuke would awaken soon.

_'I can't let myself sleep…'_ She thought as she looked up to see some light coming down _'Oh! It's already dawn?'_

She then noticed something approaching from behind and she pulled out a kunai from her pouch and slowly turned around, but she saw that it was just a squirrel.

_'A squirrel…?'_ She thought before saying "What are you up to, scaring me like that?"

The squirrel then moved towards her and she noticed that it got dangerously close to one of the traps she had laid there. She then threw the kunai and it hit the ground just in front of the squirrel before said squirrel ran away.

_'That was close. That was too close!'_ Sakura thought.

"That's pretty tightly wound. I wonder if she noticed the explosive tag we stuck on the squirrel!" One of the Oto-nins said.

"No… that's not it…" The leader of the three said.

"What then, Dosu? What's going on?" One of the others said.

"… We'll have to get closer to find out. So… what are we waiting for?" The leader of the three, now identified as Dosu said.

Forest of Death, Lee

Lee jumped from branch-to-branch through the forest until he eventually stopped at one of the branches as he saw 20 tree-leaves falling down.

_'If I can catch all 20 of these leaves before any of them hits the ground, then Sakura-san will fall in love with me! But if I miss even one… then my love for her will never be requited! And she'll probably make fun of my hair!'_ He thought before leaping down towards the leaves and he started catching them, one-by-one.

_'Just one more try…'_ He thought as he reached for the last leaf, but then he noticed something out of the corner of his eye _'It's…!'_ He saw a squirrel that had an explosive tag on its back.

BOOM!

As the smoke cleared, Lee lied on the ground with the squirrel in his left hand and the explosive tag in his right.

"Just in the nick of time! An explosive tag… on a very short timer. Who would do something so cruel?" Lee said as he crunched the tag.

Forest of Death, team 10

Shikamaru, Ino and Choji were hiding behind some bushes as Neji passed them.

"Come out of hiding… unless you're a coward." Neji said.

"How'd he spot us when we hid so fast?" Ino whispered before looking at the other two "My masterful plan A – hiding until anyone who might hurt us is gone – has failed! Time for plan B!"

"What a drag… finding us like that!" Shikamaru whispered before the three of them came out of the bushes.

"Oh! What an honor. Hyuga Neji-sama, last year's rookie of the year… fancy meeting you here." Ino said.

"Wow… can I have your autograph?" Shikamaru asked.

"Oh! It's you three…" Neji said.

'_Get a load of this.'_ Ino thought before she pulled off her hair-string and she said "I can't tell you how long… I've dreamt of meeting you!"

"Get lost." Neji said as he walked away.

'_Why? Why didn't he find me sexy? What's wrong with him? It makes me so mad!'_ Ino thought as she angrily raised a fist in Neji's direction.

'_I tried to tell you he wouldn't go for it!'_ Shikamaru thought.

" Hey… Does that fist you're shaking in my direction mean you want to fight me?" Neji asked.

"Heh heh. O-of course not!" Ino said before thinking _'H-how could he know that… unless he does have eyes on the back of his head?'_

"Then get lost. I wouldn't demean myself by taking a scroll from losers like you. It would make me a laughing-stock." Neji said.

"O-okay!" Ino said as she and her teammates jumped back into the bushes.

"Hm… They're like cockroaches." Neji said before he continued walking.

"Let's go see if we can pick off some weaklings!" Ino said.

'_I doubt we'll find anyone weaker than us.'_ Shikamaru thought.

Forest of Death, team 7

"Heh heh… you've been up all night standing guard, eh?" Sakura heard a voice from behind her and she turned around to see the three Oto-nins.

"As of now, you're off duty. Just wake Sasuke for us. The three of us want to take him on." Dosu said.

"Wh-what are you talking about? I know that some guy named Orochimaru is the one who's pulling all the strings… so what do you want?" Sakura yelled, shocking the three Oto-nins before she continued "What does this mark on Sasuke-kun's neck mean? With Sasuke-kun in this condition… now you want to fight him? Get out of here! GO!"

"Hmm… I wonder what Orochimaru-sama's up to." Dosu said as Sakura was wondering what he was talking about.

"Whatever… I can't walk away after hearing that! I'll destroy you, girl… and your little Sasuke-kun, too!" One of the other two Oto-nins said.

"Wait, Zaku!" Dosu said.

"Wait? Why?" The Oto-nin, now identified as Zaku asked before Dosu took a few steps forward before kneeling down.

"It's obvious… freshly turned stones, exposed soil… grass in a place it would never grow… someone's been setting booby traps… but what's the point of laying them if you leave evidence that warns your pray?" Dosu said as he ripped away the grass that Sakura had laid down.

"It's amateurish! So… the person who threw the kunai was trying to stop the squirrel from springing the trap?" Zaku said.

"Well, the girl is no use to us… so let's eliminate her first." Dosu said before he and his two teammates jumped into the air.

They didn't notice however that they were walking straight into Sakura's trap as she cut a string with her kunai while smirking, and a log suddenly swung down towards the three.

"A log? The trap was _above_ us all along!" Dosu yelled before he put his right hand on the log and said "Very funny!" He then made a one-handed hand sign with his left hand and the log suddenly blew up to Sakura's surprise "To be honest… you know you're a complete no-talent, don't you? Stop dogging it and start working at it! It's an insult being underestimated by slackers like you!"

"Konoha Senpou!" The three Oto-nins were suddenly kicked back as none other than Rock Lee landed in front of Sakura.

_'Whoa… It's that guy who…?'_ Sakura thought.

"Look at who's talking…! Try taking your own advice!" Lee said.

"Wh-who are you?" Dosu asked.

"Konoha's handsome blue beast… Rock Lee!" Lee said.

"Where did you come from?" Sakura asked.

"I came... because you needed me. And I always will!" Lee said before he put down the squirrel which had just been on his shoulder while thinking _'Actually, it's thanks to my little friend here…'_

"I don't know how to thank you. You're a lifesaver!" Sakura said.

"I promised when we met… to protect you… until death do us part!" Lee said and Sakura thought back to what Lee had said when they met.

"I'll protect you with my life!"

_'Yes! I understand! I get it, Guy-sensei!'_ Lee thought.

"They're as good as dead!" Dosu said as he got ready to attack.

_'From the looks of it… Sakura-san doesn't have any more fight left in her, either.'_ Lee thought as Sakura started to pull out a kunai from her weapons pouch.

_'This unibrow kid is obviously a virtuoso of Taijutsu. He'll make an excellent plaything.'_ Dosu thought as he ran towards the two Konoha-nins.

Sakura then threw the kunai, but Dosu jumped into the air and came down towards Lee, who punched his right arm through the ground and he pulled up the roots of a tree to block Dosu's punch.

"This is some kind of illusion, right? So, I'd be wasting my time ducking as though your attacks were real. I've seen you use these moves before." Lee said.

_'He's… so strong!'_ Sakura thought.

_'But there's three of them and one of me, so they have the advantage. It's a gamble, but if I take them one at a time… my strength should be enough to beat them!'_ Lee thought.

Forest of Death team 10

"Gah! How can we pick off the weak when we can't find any weaklings?" Ino asked.

"Well… besides Naruto's team, of course!" Shikamaru said.

"What are you talking about, you baka?" Ino yelled.

"What?" Shikamaru asked.

"Naruto and Sakura are total losers… but they're teamed up with Sasuke-kun, the best of the best!" Ino yelled.

"Now, why is that? Maybe your precious Sasuke-kun is better in theory than he is in practice!" Shikamaru said, but when he saw the mad look on Ino's face, he said "All right, all right, sorry for dissing your idol!" _'… That girl is a total drag. Every time I open my mouth about Sasuke, she goes off on me!'_

"There's no way anyone here is going to beat Sasuke-kun. But Sakura? She's a complete wimp!" Ino said as Choji saw something on the other side of some bushes.

"Hey! Sasuke's unconscious! And Sakura's defending him." He said and Ino and Shikamaru looked towards where Choji was looking.

Forest of Death, team Guy

Neji and Tenten were both back at their rendezvous point, but there were no sign of Lee anywhere.

"It's not like Lee-san to keep us waiting! It's odd… he's usually such a stickler about punctuality. … I wonder if he ran into trouble…" Tenten said.

"Not him! No way. But we should still look for him." Neji said.

"Right!" Tenten said before they shunshined away.

Forest of Death, team 7

_'Guy-sensei… the time has surely come for me to use the forbidden move you taught me… and not hold back!'_ Lee thought as he unwrapped the bandages around his arms _'I'm defending the life of someone who means the world to me!' _He then crouched down before disappearing.

_'Where'd he go?'_ Dosu wondered just before Lee appeared under him and with one powerful kick to the jaw, sent him high into the air before jumping after.

"I'm not done with you yet!" Lee said when he came up behind the Oto-nin and his bandages suddenly wrapped themselves around Dosu and the two of them spiraled – head-first – towards the ground.

"He's wide open… can't make a move to defend himself! Oh, crud!" Zaku said as he weaved a series of hand signs.

"Take this! Omote Renge!" Lee said just before they hit the ground.

He then jumped away at the last second, but as he landed he saw that the ground that Dosu had landed on had somehow been turned to a pillow of soil.

"Whew… looks like I made it…" Zaku said before he pulled his hands out of the ground.

"No way!" Lee yelled when Dosu got back up on his feet.

"… What a terrible technique… I managed to land on a pillow of soil… and it still almost wiped me out! But now… it's my turn…" Dosu said as he got ready to attack.

_'Oh… this is not good… that last move I did just toasted me. I've got nothing!'_ Lee thought just before Dosu ran towards him and swung his right arm. Lee barely managed to dodge it, but then he fell down on his knees.

"Your moves may be fast… but ours are super-sonic! And muscles alone can't break down… this wall of sound!" Dosu said and Lee suddenly vomited.

"LEE-SAN!" Sakura yelled.

_'My left ear…'_ Lee thought as he felt an intensive pain in said ear and he brought his hand up to it.

"It's this appliance on my arm… you see? It prevents you… from breaking my attacks." Dosu said.

"What did you use on him?" Sakura asked.

"Heh heh heh… It's sound! Even if you block my fist, the sound waves reach you." Dosu said.

_'Sound?'_ Lee thought.

"Do you understand… the fundamental nature of sound?" Dosu asked.

"Vibrations…?" Sakura guessed.

"Precisely. When you hear a sound, it's actually those vibrations displacing the air, which trembles against your eardrum. And the human eardrum – the tympanic membrane – ruptures when exposed to sound levels in excess of 150 phons. Moreover, if the sound is powerful enough to upset the semi-circular canals of the inner ear… it becomes impossible for you to maintain your balance. Heh heh… And it will be some time… before your equilibrium returns." Dosu explained.

"So, you see, crude, old-fashioned Taijutsu simply won't don't work against us. You did start out very well, though. It's rare for a foe to force me to reveal the nature of my techniques. But now the tide has turned against you! I can wield sound waves as a weapon… with enough force to crush entire boulders! And with a mere thought I can use sound waves to force air into the earth beneath me, transforming rock-hard soil into the softest kind of cushion… a far more elegant and effective art than your crude application of brute force." Zaku said.

_'Blast him…'_ Lee thought as he remembered what Guy had told him after he had learned the Omote Renge.

"The only time you may use this technique… is to protect someone very dear to you."

"… To protect… someone dear to me…?"

"But even if you never employ it, I'm very proud of you for mastering this technique! Good work, Lee!"

_'Kuso…'_ Lee thought.

"And now… it's your turn." Dosu said as he charged towards Sakura as a she was suddenly enshrouded by a pink aura.

"Blast…!" Lee said as he attempted to step in to save Sakura, but he found that he wasn't able to move.

As Dosu closed in on the girl, he prepared to punch her, giving her the full-force of the sound vibrations, but just then – to everyone's surprise – Sakura's shadow rose up to form a pink phoenix as a shield appeared in front of her, not only blocking Dosu's punch, but also the sound.

'_NANI?'_ The three Oto-nins thought in shock as their, Lee's and team 10's eyes widened.

'_Wh-what is that?'_ Ino thought.

Chapter preview

Zaku "Wh-what is that thing?"

Kluke "Haruno Sakura, you must accept your destiny as one of the Seven Soldiers of Light."

Shikamaru "What are you going to do, Ino?"

Ino "Why… why are you asking me?"

Shikamaru "I mean, Sakura's in deep. We can't just leave her… can we? Wasn't she, like, your best friend or something?" … "Hey! Ino! What's it gonna be?"

Kluke "Next time on Naruto's Blue Dragon: To the tower."

Hiruzen "Congratulations to you all on passing the second exam."

Character status

Naruto: Level: 6

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Oiroke, Harem, Kage Bunshin, Futon: Kamikaze, Wind Sword.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Shadow: Blue Dragon.

Sasuke: Level: 7

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Katon: Goukakyo, Katon: Housenka, Katon: Ryuka.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.

Shadow: Minotaur.

Sakura: Level: 1

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Shadow: Phoenix.

Shu: Level: unknown

Techniques: Firaga, Blue Explosion.

Weapons: none

Shadow: Blue Dragon.

Jiro: Level: unknown

Techniques: Katon: Goukaryuendan, Thundaga, Lightaga sword.

Weapons: sword.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.

Shadow: Minotaur.

Rock Lee: Level: 8

Techniques: Konoha Senpou, Kagebuyo, Konoha Reppu, Omote Renge.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Orochimaru: Level: 67

Techniques: Doton: Kage Bunshin, Jagei Jubaku, Gogyo Fuin, Mandara no Jin, Sen'eijashu, Kage Bunshin, Kuchiyose, Kuchiyose: Rashomon, Shoshagan, Futon: Daitoppa, Kanashibari, Sojasosai, Shoshagan, Juinjutsu, Shadowaga Sword, Shadowaga, Shieldaga.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken, Kusanagi.

Shadow: Serpent.

Dosu: Level: 13

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Kyomeisen.

Weapons: Melody Arm.

**Kurama no Kyubi:** And that's the end of that chapter, now I hope that you're all happy. Also, I was thinking of giving a name to Jiro's version of the Sharingan – which Madara and Shisui also managed to unlock – though I can't seem to think of anything. So I was wondering if you guys would have any ideas?


	5. To the tower

**Naruto's Blue Dragon**

**Chunin exam arc**

**Kurama no Kyubi:** I forgot to tell you last chapter that I'm now only concentrating on one story until I'm done with said story's arc, though if I take more than a month in writing the arc, I'll go over to the next story. However, there is one exception to this, any story that I start on after my original eight stories are said exception, unless I finish one of my original eight stories and start a new one to replace that story so to speak.

"Blue Dragon." Normal speech

'_Blue Dragon.'_ Normal thought

"**Blue Dragon."** **Biju and Shadow speech**

'_**Blue Dragon.'**_** Biju and Shadow thought**

**Naruto:** Kurama no Kyubi doesn't own any of us.

Chapter 4: To the tower

Everyone stared in awe at what was before them. Somehow, Sakura's shadow had taken on a physical shape and rose out of the ground, taking the form of a phoenix. And somehow, the phoenix had formed a shield which blocked Dosu's punch.

"Wh-what is that thing?" Zaku managed to ask as he was still shocked.

'_Sakura-san…'_ Lee thought.

'_Is that…?'_ Shikamaru thought as he remembered one time when he and his father was playing shogi.

Flashback

"Say, Shikamaru. What do you know of the shadow arts?" Shikamaru's father, Nara Shikaku asked as he moved one of his pieces.

"Hmm… well, with the shadow arts, we can completely paralyze our opponent, and then either one of the Yamanaka clan can enter the opponent's mind, or one of the Akimichi clan can finish them off." Shikamaru answered, causing Shikaku to smile.

"True, but there is more to the shadow arts than most people know." Shikaku said as Shikamaru moved one of his pieces, taking down one of his father's knights.

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked.

"The ultimate form of shadow arts in which your shadow assumes a physical shape, usually in the form of some kind of animal that you have a connection too. Though in some cases, the Shadow is in the form of a plant or even a human." Shikaku said as he took down one of Shikamaru's pieces.

"My shadow can get a physical form?" Shikamaru asked and Shikaku nodded.

"This isn't something unique to our clan however. Everyone has the potential of mastering this art, though most people will need the help of an outside force in order to awaken it. There are a few exceptions however." Shikaku said.

"Exceptions?" Shikamaru asked as he moved one of his pieces.

"There's a legend of seven people called the Seven Soldiers of Light who can awaken their Shadows through their own power alone." Shikaku said as he moved one of his pieces before saying "This art was originally created by the distant relatives of our clan in Ryugakure."

"Ryugakure? I've never heard of a village by that name before." Shikamaru said as he moved one of his pieces.

"Not many people have." Shikaku said before moving one of his pieces and smirked "Checkmate."

Flashback end

'_Could Sakura be one of those " Seven Soldiers of Light"?'_ Shikamaru thought.

"Well, I see that there's more to you than meets the eye, but let's see just how long that shield will be able to last." Dosu said before he was about to attack the shield, but just then said shield vanished and Sakura collapsed before drifting off into unconsciousness.

"SAKURA-SAN!" Lee yelled as he attempted to stand up, but found it futile.

"Running away sounds like a good plan! Those guys are getting creamed!" Choji whispered.

"It looks like Sasuke and Naruto are just unconscious… but… the famous Lee's obviously had his butt kicked, and Sakura's all alone… what are you going to do Ino?" Shikamaru whispered.

"Why… why are you asking me?" Ino asked.

"I mean, Sakura's in deep! We can't just leave her… can we? Wasn't she, like your best friend or something?" Shikamaru whispered and Ino suddenly thought back to when she and Sakura first became rivals.

"Um… Ino-chan?"

"What's up, Sakura?"

"I heard someone saying…"

"Saying what?"

"Saying that you like Sasuke-kun, too!"

"What?"

"If it's true… that makes us… rivals!"

_'Why am I remembering that now?'_ The Yamanaka heiress thought.

"Hey, Ino! What's it gonna be?" Shikamaru asked.

"There's nothing we can do. If we blunder in now… we may just make things worse!" Ino whispered, trying not to yell before thinking _'Those guys would take me out in about 10 seconds flat! Not even I… can beat them!'_

Sakura's mindscape

Sakura opened her eyes to find that she was in a large flower field filled with cherry blossoms that seemed to go on forever.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"I've been waiting for you, Sakura." Sakura turned around to see a girl with brown hair in a ponytail and one large bang that came down on the right side of her face, almost covering half of her right eye. She also wore a pink blouse and a yellow belt was wrapped around her waist, but what made Sakura raise an eyebrow was her pointy ears.

"Who are you?" Sakura asked.

"I'm Haruno Kluke, your ancestor." The girl, now identified as Kluke said.

"My ancestor?" Sakura asked in disbelief.

"That's right. I'm exactly 4012 years old." Kluke said.

"F-four thousand?" Sakura asked as her eyes bugged out of her head.

"I know it's hard to believe, but it's true." Kluke said.

"Okay, so where are we?" Sakura asked.

"This is your mindscape. It's kinda like a world that exists inside your head." Kluke said.

"My mindscape?" Sakura asked and Kluke nodded.

"Yes, but we don't have time to get off topic anymore." Kluke said.

"Off topic? Off topic of what?" Sakura asked.

"Sakura, you are one of the Seven Soldiers of Light who are destined to save this world." Kluke said.

"Seven Soldiers of Light? Save this world? I think you got the wrong person. I'm not cut-out for something like that." Sakura said.

"Haruno Sakura, you must accept your destiny as one of the Seven Soldiers of Light." Kluke yelled, making Sakura take a few steps back "Look, there are no mistake you are one of the Seven Soldiers of Light. You wouldn't have been able to awaken your Shadow through your own powers if you weren't."

"My Shadow?" Sakura asked and Kluke went on to explain about Shadows.

In the outside world

As Zaku walked towards where Naruto and Sasuke were unconscious, the female member of the Oto-nins – Kin – walked towards Sakura.

"This one proved to be more trouble than she was worth. I say we kill her too." She said as she stood over Sakura and started pulling out a senbon, but then she noticed that something had grabbed her leg and she looked down to see Lee's hand.

"Don't you lay a finger on her! If you do, I'll never forgive you!" Lee said.

"Well, isn't this sweet? Young love. Just too bad I'll have to take it away." Kin said as she pulled out the senbon before thrusting it downward towards Sakura. But then, she suddenly found that she couldn't move.

"Hey, Kin! What's wrong?" Zaku asked as he had noticed that all of her movements had stopped.

"Heh. Kagemane no Jutsu… success." All three Oto-nins then turned towards the voice to see Shikamaru, Ino and Choji standing there with Shikamaru holding Choji by his scarf so that he wouldn't try to run away.

"Hmm. The freak parade just goes on and on…" Zaku said.

"More of these annoying little bugs from Konoha have crept in… and started swarming." Dosu said.

"Wh-what are you guys thinking? Those creeps are too dangerous! They'll eat us alive! Shikamaru… let go of me!" Choji yelled.

"Nope! No way. Sorry, buddy, but that's the way it is! We're the men here! We can't run away when Ino's ready to risk her life fighting! Not even if we die!" Shikamaru said.

"Sorry I dragged you boys into this! But we are a three-man team… all for one and one for all." Ino said.

"What's meant to happen will, I guess!" Shikamaru said.

"Heh heh… we'll let you off the hook if you want to run… fatty." Zaku said.

"What did that guy just say? I… could've sworn he called me…" Choji said.

_'That word's a big no-no with Choji… if this guy says it again…!'_ Shikamaru thought.

"You're welcome to run away… if you can find a hiding place that's big enough… fatso!" Zaku said.

"I'M NOT FAT! I'M JUST PLEASINGLY PLUMP!" Choji yelled as he snapped "Pleasingly plump people UNITE! Does everyone understand? Do you get me? Konoha and the Oto ninja are at war!"

_'Good luck! Choji's lost it!'_ Ino thought.

"This is turning into a complete drag!" Shikamaru said as he let go of Choji's scarf.

"… It certainly is." Zaku said before thinking _'Our orders were to find and kill Uchiha Sasuke under the cover of this exam, but…'_

"Ino. It's your turn." Shikamaru said as Ino had made a hand sign.

"Way ahead of you. Shintenshin no Jutsu!" Ino said and her body suddenly fell backwards and Shikamaru caught it as he also released his hold on Kin, who now had Ino's mind inside her head.

"You're finished!" Ino/Kin said as she raised the senbon to her neck "If either of you makes a move, your teammate Kin is as good as dead. Both of you, leave your scrolls here, and go finish the exam without them. When I can no longer sense either of your chakras, I'll release Kin!" She was confused however when she noticed that Zaku and Dosu chuckled '_What do they think is so funny?'_

Zaku then aimed his arm at Ino/Kin with an open palm and sent a strong sound-wave in the form of a powerful blast of air towards her. Just as she thought she was done for, however, she was swept away by an orange blur and before she knew it, she was lying on the ground and Naruto was standing over her, looking towards the Oto-nins.

"You all right, Ino?" He asked without taking his eyes off the enemies.

"N-Naruto…?" Ino/Kin said, obviously confused, after all, she had thought her fellow blond was unconscious.

"I woke up a few minutes ago, so I've got a pretty good idea of what's going on here. Now I suggest you return to your own body. Your strategy obviously isn't working here." Naruto said.

"Oh, right." Ino/Kin said before making a hand sign "KAI!" Just then, she woke up in her own body and as Kin also began to wake up, Naruto kicked her in the jaw with his heel, knocking her out.

"Now, then. Shikamaru, why don't you and your team take on the guy with air-vents for arms while I take on the mummy?" Naruto said.

"Alright, but do you think you can handle him all by yourself?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah, no problem." Naruto said.

"Heh. You really think you can take me on all by yourself?" Dosu asked.

"You know. He does actually have a point there, Naruto. Not even Lee managed to beat him." Shikamaru said.

"I know, and I hate to admit it, but I'm only the second strongest on my team. I'm no way near Sasuke's speed and strength much less Bushy-Brows'." Naruto said as he looked at his open palm "But…" He then clenched his palm into a fist and held it out towards the Oto-nins "I've got something else, I've got the guts to never give up! Dattebayo!"

"Heheheh. You think mere guts are gonna help you here?" Dosu asked as he got ready to charge at the blond.

"And that's not all… I've also got this!" Naruto said as a blue aura enshrouded him and Blue Dragon suddenly rose out of the ground and gave a powerful roar.

'_That might, though…'_ Dosu thought before he charged at Naruto and prepared to punch him, but the blond as well as his Shadow disappeared.

"Whew. That was close." Naruto said as he was standing in a crouched position on Blue Dragon's back, high above the others. **(Kurama no Kyubi: I'm still trying to figure out how they can actually stand on their own Shadows.)**

"**Kid, I could have easily blocked that attack, ya know. So why did you have me dodge?" **Blue Dragon asked.

"I know, but his attacks have more to them than what the naked eye can see." Naruto said.

"**I see. So what's the plan then?"** Blue Dragon asked.

"I think a long range battle would be to our advantage here." Naruto said.

"**Wind it is, then."** Blue Dragon said before flying downwards and Naruto threw several kunai down at Dosu who noticed them and quickly blocked them with his right arm.

'_Coming at me like that… What's he planning?'_ Dosu thought.

"Wind!" Naruto called out and Blue Dragon opened his mouth, letting out a powerful gust of wind that blew Dosu straight into a tree. Blue Dragon then stopped just above the ground as Naruto weaved a series of hand signs.

"Futon: Kamikaze no Jutsu!" He called out before blowing a powerful gust of wind which sent the Oto-nin straight through the tree. Naruto then quickly glanced over at team 10 to see how they were faring and it seemed that they had already managed to take down Zaku.

'_Well, that was quick. I can't believe Sakura-chan and Bushy-Brows had such trouble with these guys.'_ Naruto thought just before he heard something and before he knew it, Dosu was in his face, forming a one-handed hand sign with his left hand.

"You really shouldn't turn away from your opponent." He said before swinging his arm, hitting Naruto in the stomach before the blond puffed away in a cloud of smoke.

'_Nani? A Bunshin?'_ Dosu thought before the real Naruto appeared behind him.

"It's over. Wind Sword!" Dosu only managed to turn around before the sword of wind hit him, and he was sent skidding backwards before falling down to one knee.

"I suggest you leave your scroll here and retreat." Everyone who were still conscious looked up to a branch to see Neji and Tenten standing there.

"The kid with the hairdo belongs to us. You hurt him, so now you have to answer to us!" Neji said before veins suddenly popped out around his eyes.

'_His eyes seem to penetrate everything!'_ Dosu thought.

"Stop while you still can… or we'll give you everything we've got!" Neji said.

"Hmm… very well. Besides if I can't even take down the second strongest of his team, there's no way I can take down Sasuke. Here." Dosu said as he put down an earth scroll before getting to his feet and picking up his fallen teammates before leaving.

Naruto then recalled Blue Dragon back into his shadow and walked towards the scroll before picking it up and turning to team 10.

"Are you guys in need of an earth scroll?" He asked.

"Yeah, why? Do you already have one?" Shikamaru asked.

"Nope. I just thought that this might be your one chance of getting the scroll you need." Naruto said and the three members of team 10 sweatdropped as their eyes twitched.

'_We already know we're weak, you don't have to rub it in.'_ Shikamaru thought.

"Well, if you need an earth scroll, here, catch." Naruto said as he threw the scroll over to them and Shikamaru caught it.

"But what about you guys? Don't you need that scroll too?" Ino asked.

"Nah. We're not weak like you guys, we can find another scroll, no problem." Naruto said and a vein popped on Ino's forehead.

"HEY! Who are you calling weak?" Ino yelled as she tried to run over to Naruto and punch him into the ground, but Shikamaru and Choji were holding her back.

"Calm down Ino." Shikamaru said.

Forest of Death, tower, Shu

Shu was currently sitting on the railings of a small balcony on the tower as he held his open palm over his lap and hovering over his palm was what looked like a Dragon Scale, but instead of being blue, it was black and the design was different too.

"**Are you sure about this?"** A child-like voice came from the scale and Shu nodded.

"Positive. Bouquet reported it to me herself. Sabaku no Gaara have the ability to freely control sand. You know that there's only one person in the entire world that can do that." Shu said.

"**But it doesn't make any sense. Villages are usually strict about keeping Jinchuriki within the village, so why would the Kazekage send Shukaku's host to Konoha for the Chunin exams?"** The voice said.

"I don't know, but I'm going to look into the matter personally to find out." Shu said.

"**And this had to happen right now when I was about to recall you too."** The voice said.

"Huh? Why?" Shu asked.

"**We're not sure of what exactly's going on, but we've detected recent human activity with Michael's statue."** The voice said.

"What? Do you have any idea who it was?" Shu asked.

"**No. I was thinking of sending you to investigate, but you've got your hands full over there, so I'll have to send someone else instead."** The voice said.

"Let me know when you've found anything." Shu said.

"**Will do, Black Dragon out."** The voice said before the Dragon Scale suddenly turned blue and the design changed as it fell down in Shu's hand before vanishing.

'_Why would humans have an interest in Michael's statue? Except for archeological purposes that is. I hope that's all it is, I'd hate to think what would happen if someone were to revive him.'_ Shu thought as he jumped down from the railings and walked in through a door.

He didn't notice however that someone had been spying on him the whole time.

'_So that's how it is, is it, Shu-kun? You're one of the most powerful dragons, one of the leaders of the "Legion of Elite Species". And you're one of the previous Soldiers of Light, with Naruto-kun as your successor. This means that Naruto-kun must be your direct descendant. Kukukukukukukuku.'_ The man spying on him, Orochimaru thought.

Forest of Death, team 7

It had been a couple of days since the fight against the Oto-nins and the three Konoha teams had split up. After Sasuke and Sakura had woken up, they weren't exactly too happy that Naruto had given the earth scroll to team 10, but it was too late to do anything about that now.

At a river there was a puff of smoke and three Narutos jumped into the water, and shortly afterwards, three fishes was thrown into the air before Sasuke threw one kunai at each, sticking them to a tree. Naruto then resurfaced, his clones already having dispelled.

"Go under and flail around again. Three fish won't last us long. I want to preserve some for later. Let's do it three more times. C'mon, dobe." Sasuke said.

"This isn't exactly easy! Dattebayo! So… let's swap jobs! You dive!" Naruto yelled.

"Sasuke-kun! I've finished setting up the sticks and kindling. Could you please ignite it with your Goukakyo?" Sakura yelled.

"… All right. Three fish will do for now." Sasuke said.

Shortly afterwards they were sitting around a campfire, waiting for the fishes to get grilled.

"The second exam started four days ago, right?" Sasuke said.

"Yeah…" Sakura said.

"What about it?" Naruto asked.

"And it began at around 2:30 P.M, so it will be over in less than 26 hours." Sasuke said.

"A lot of teams must have finished by now. which means…" Sakura said.

'… _People will be getting desperate.'_ Sasuke thought as he looked at the scroll in his hand.

Shortly after were the fish ready and the three Genin began eating, but there's something Sakura just couldn't get off her mind.

"I'm worried that… there might not be any more earth scrolls left." She said.

"What do you mean, Sakura?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, the second exam is only due to last five days… and four days have already elapsed. That's 80 percent of the test time. There are 27 teams of three competing... and only 14 heaven scrolls and 13 earth scrolls. Since you need both scrolls to pass, a maximum of 13 teams will succeed. And for all we know, some of the scrolls might even have been destroyed. As soon as one type of either scroll is destroyed, one scroll of the other type automatically becomes useless." Sakura explained.

"We split up from the rest of the teams from Konoha… and had to spend two days letting our wounds heal. We'll have to widen our search… to make up for the time and distance we've lost. The next enemy we meet… could be… our last chance." Sasuke said before getting to his feet, turning around and walking away "I'm going to go get some water…"

"Ya know, if you guys just wait here, I can go beat up some guys and be back with an earth scroll before you know it." Naruto said.

"Yeah, right. Like you of all people could do that." Sakura said. **(Kurama no Kyubi: She and Sasuke still don't know about Blue Dragon nor does Naruto know about Minotaur and Phoenix.)**

"Just wait and see, Sakura-chan. I'll bring back an earth scroll in no time." Naruto said as he stood up before walking towards the trees.

"I hope you're not going to go scroll-hunting like that." Naruto and Sakura turned towards the voice to see none other than Yakushi Kabuto.

"Kabuto-san…" Sakura said.

Just then Sasuke returned and his eyes widened slightly as he saw Kabuto, but then narrowed as he walked towards the silver-haired man.

"Your name is Kabuto, isn't it? What are you doing wandering around by yourself?" The Uchiha asked and Kabuto looked towards him.

"Well… I wasn't after your scroll if that's what you're implying." Kabuto said.

"Probably not… But your still after the second scroll too, aren't you?" Sasuke asked.

"Nope… I've already got a set." Kabuto said as he pulled both scrolls out of his weapons pouch "But I got separated from my team. I'm on my way to join up with them at the tower now."

'_Nani?'_ Sasuke thought in surprise.

"See you around." Kabuto said as he had put the scrolls back in his pouch and turned around to leave.

"Wait!" Sasuke said, stopping Kabuto in his tracks "Fight me!"

What none of them realized however was that there was an Ame-nin hiding in the bushes, spying on them.

"Sweet…" The Ame-nin said.

"Fight you…?" Kabuto asked.

"S-Sasuke-kun…!" Sakura said surprised.

"Are you joking?" Kabuto asked.

"… I wish I were… but our time is almost up." Sasuke said.

"Hey, Sasuke. I don't think we'll have to go that far." Naruto said.

"I-I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun, but I think Naruto is right." Sakura said.

"Shut up…!" Sasuke said.

"But… Sasuke-kun…" Sakura asked.

"There's no other way. I tried to warn you before. Challenging him is the only way we'll be out of the forest in time to pass this test." Sasuke said.

"That's a lie." Kabuto said.

"A lie?" Naruto asked.

"You're more interested in making a big gesture than in reaching your goal… Otherwise you wouldn't have run the risk of issuing that pretentious formal challenge. You put me on guard and assured yourself of a fair fight. If you were truly committed you would have just blindsided me. That's what being a ninja is all about. I don't think less of you for being that way, in fact let me show you the path you should tread. But… let's move while we discuss it. The smoke from your fire and the aroma of those fish you roasted can be smelled for quite a distance. By now, every wild animal or enemy in the area must be moving in on us." Kabuto said.

"Rats." The Ame-nin said before shunshining away.

Shortly afterwards were the four Konoha-nins tree-jumping through the forest, heading for the tower as quickly as possible.

"Are there even enemies left this late?" Sasuke asked.

"Lots of 'em. If you were more alert, you'd know it, too. It takes intelligence to win battles in territory like a jungle or forest, and do you know the intelligent think to do?" Kabuto asked.

"To head for the tower?" Naruto guessed.

"Correct. We all share a common goal. The tower in the center of the forest. So the closer we get to the end of the exam, the more people will be carrying scrolls to the finish-line… making the tower and its vicinity the likeliest place to find them." Kabuto explained.

"Oh! You're talking about an ambush. We make our target… someone who has captured both the heaven and earth scrolls and is taking them back to the tower." Sakura said.

"You're one-third right." Kabuto said.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"First of all, you won't be the only ones who've figured that out… so there are going to be a lot of desperate characters setting snares for the unwary around that tower." Kabuto said.

"So, while we're waiting to ambush them… they'll be trying to ambush us." Naruto said.

"Kabuto-san… what's the rest of the answer…?" Sakura asked.

"This type of exam brings out another sort of enemy… I call them collectors." Kabuto said. **(Kurama no Kyubi: Collectors? Oh, no! The Reapers are planning to attack the elemental nations!)**

"Collectors?" Sakura asked.

"Even when you're standing at the tower door… and you think you're home-free, don't relax your guard for an instant. The conditions of this exam are apt to give rise to them. Bottom feeders. They're the ones who may not be good enough to beat every enemy they find, so they try to get their hands on as many extra sets of scrolls as they can to buy themselves safe passage from anyone they can't or won't face fairly. Some of them also want to have extra scrolls to offer other teams from their home villages who may not have fared as well. Because if those teams are on their second or third attempts at passing the Chunin exams, the collectors can barter the surplus scrolls for advance intelligence about the next stages of the test. And there are those who aren't after your scroll… they're after your life! They want to eliminate strong teams now just so they'll have less competition to deal with as they move on to the third exam and beyond. And – as you can probably guess – most of these shrewd, ruthless teams never make the mistake of getting complacent or letting their own guard down. Those are the deadliest… and the worst." Kabuto explained.

"So… that's why you let your presence be known to us. You're vulnerable too." Sasuke said, but Kabuto didn't reply "Safety in numbers, eh?"

"… Right." Kabuto said.

Soon after in the middle of the night, the four of them were standing on a branch which they could see the tower in the distance from.

"We're in view of the tower… Here's where the fun really begins." Kabuto said.

"Then let's get going." Naruto said before they all noticed something.

"An enemy… so soon?" Sakura asked as they turned around to see that it was just a gigantic centipede.

"Aw, man. It's just a centipede." Naruto said disappointed.

"A really _big_ centipede…" Sakura said.

"That is so gross." Sasuke said.

"That might just have been a centipede, but next time it might be the real thing… So starting now, let's keep it quiet and remain out of sight." Kabuto said.

"Gotcha." Naruto said.

"Okay…" Sakura said, still a little creeped out by the centipede.

"… Right." Sasuke said.

A while later they were still walking seemingly not getting any closer to the tower as they were getting quite exhausted.

"I'm sorry… I'm done…" Sakura said before collapsing.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto yelled.

"I-I don't know how far we've come, but the tower never gets any closer." Sakura said.

'… _She's right.'_ Sasuke thought as he looked towards the tower which seemed to be just as far away as before.

"It's bizarre. It's right in front of us, plain as day…" Naruto said.

"Obviously… we're already enjoying some enemy's warm welcome." Kabuto said.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"A Genjutsu…?" Sasuke guessed.

That's what it looks like. And we fell for it. We've been very, very cautiously… running around in circles." Kabuto said.

"And undoubtedly, being watched." Sasuke said.

"It would make sense. Whoever did this is waiting for us to wear ourselves out… so they can move in and take us down." Kabuto said.

"Then they must realize our strength is fading…" Sasuke said.

"So they'll make their move soon." Kabuto said.

"Right…" Sasuke said just before a bunch of black clothed Ame-nins came out of the ground and trees.

"Here they come…" Sasuke said.

"Hah. Yep. Just about the perfect handicap." Naruto said.

"There are a lot of them… Not to mention all the clones." Kabuto said.

"Wh-what the…?" Sakura asked.

"Heh heh… You're all trapped like rats." One of the clones said.

"What should we do, guys?" Naruto asked.

"Heh. These guys are nothing." Sasuke said before turning to Naruto "Naruto, let me show you why you can never reach my level."

Naruto then looked at Sasuke in confusion as the Uchiha was enshrouded in a green aura before his Shadow raised up out of the ground and assumed the form of a minotaur.

'_That's… Sasuke-kun's Shadow, Minotaur.'_ Sakura thought.

"Huh? You've got a Shadow too?" Naruto asked.

""Too"?" Sasuke wondered what Naruto meant as said blond turned towards the Ame-nins.

"Well, in that case, I suppose there'll be no harm in showing you." Naruto said before he was enshrouded in a blue aura and Blue Dragon came up, out of the ground.

'_N-nani?'_ Sasuke and Sakura thought before the Uchiha remembered something Orochimaru had said after Jiro had summoned his Shadow.

"A Minotaur Shadow, hm? I hear that that's the third most powerful form of Shadows there are, supposedly only Dragon Shadows and Chimera Shadows are stronger."

'_How does the dobe of all people have a Dragon?'_ Sasuke thought in anger.

"Well then, teme. Let's see how good you really are with controlling your Shadow's power." Naruto said.

"Heh. Whatever, dobe. I'm probably way more skilled with that than you. Now let's take these guys down already." Sasuke said.

"Matte!" Sakura said before coming up next to Sasuke.

"Hey. Sakura-chan, what do you think you're doing?" Naruto asked.

"I'm going to help the two of you, baka." Sakura said before she was enshrouded by a pink aura and Phoenix came up, out of the ground.

'_Sakura/Sakura-chan too?'_ Sasuke and Naruto thought.

"Well then. In this case… Naruto, Sakura, IKUZO!" Sasuke said before they charged at the Ame-nins.

"Wind Sword!" Naruto called out before a sword of wind appeared around Blue Dragon's hand before it cut through a bunch of the Ame-nins, but then instead of falling to the ground, the upper half of the Ame-nins just reattached themselves to their lower halves as though they were made of some kind of muck.

'_Wh-what are they…?'_ Sasuke thought.

"**Well, isn't this new. Their still standing after that attack."** Minotaur said.

"Well then. Time for us to show what we can do. Fire Sword!" Sasuke called out and a sword of fire appeared around Minotaur's hand before the Uchiha commanded his Shadow to strike down the Ame-nins.

Suddenly however, Sasuke felt a sting in his neck before collapsing down to his knees as he brought his right hand up to the mark that Orochimaru had given him.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura yelled, but she failed to notice that one of the Ame-nins behind her threw a kunai towards her, but Kabuto managed to grab her and threw both himself and the pinkette to the ground, however the kunai still managed to hit him in the shoulder.

"Sakura-chan, are you all right?" Naruto asked as he ran over to the girl while Kabuto pulled the kunai out of his shoulder and studied it.

'_This thing is real… solid… not an illusion.'_ He thought.

"Surrender your scroll…" One of the Ame-nins said.

'_Does the fact that they physically hurt Kabuto-san mean these guys are solid Bunshins and not just illusions…? Even when Bunshins have some substance, they usually fade away once you beat them… and these guys are still here. So is this Genjutsu after all? Which is it?'_ Naruto thought before he prepared to do another Wind Sword.

"Wait! It's no good!" Sasuke said as he had activated his Sharingan "They _are_ just illusions… Genjutsu cast by the enemy."

"B-but… Kabuto-san's wound is real…" Sakura said.

"No… Sasuke-kun's right. The illusionist is watching from somewhere close by, synchronizing a real, physical attack with the movements of the enemies we think we're seeing. It enhances our perception that the shadow shinobi we're fighting are real." Kabuto said.

"In that case, I'll just hunt down the coward who's throwing kunai knives at us and kick his butt!" Naruto said.

"No… Good as he is, he can convince us to believe the kunai are coming from any direction he wants us to. Plus, he's probably masked his scent, so Blue Dragon's nose will be useless. We'll never find him that way… but he's hoping we'll try. Based on my experience… his kind are pretty much wimps when it comes to Taijutsu. The actual, physical foe won't come out and face us until we're completely worn out and helpless. Right now, our only choice is to keep moving and avoid their attacks… so recall your Shadows." Kabuto said.

"**You know about Shadows?"** Phoenix asked.

"Well, intelligence gathering _is_ my forte." Kabuto said.

"Okay, then. If that's how it's going to be…" Naruto said before Blue Dragon, Minotaur and Phoenix were all recalled back into their respective master's shadow.

"I wonder how long they'll last…" One of the real Ame-nins said.

"The night is still young… Heheheh…" Another one said.

As time went on, the four Konoha-nins continued to dodge all of the attacks that were thrown at them, but they were all starting to get exhausted, which is exactly what the Ame-nins were waiting for.

"Ohhh! How long can they keep this up?" Sakura yelled.

"How long can we?" Naruto said as he made a cross-shaped hand sign.

"Naruto-kun, no! Don't squander your chakra! A direct attack can't help us!" Kabuto yelled.

"If we were to dissipate all of the illusions simultaneously, whoever's casting them wouldn't be able to just hurl kunai at us without us seeing where they're hiding! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto said before a bunch of Kage Bunshins puffed into existence.

'_Kage Bunshins…!'_ One of the real Ame-nins thought.

Naruto and his clones then blindly charged at the illusions and started taking them down.

"It would seem our best course is to increase our numbers." One of the real Ame-nins said before chuckling as more illusions came up, out of the ground.

"Kuso." Naruto said as he saw the new shadow ninja.

A while later, all of Naruto's clones had been taken out as the original was sent skidding on his back towards his fellow Konoha-nins who seemed to be out of chakra as they were all sitting on their knees, panting.

"Uhhn… That's all I got…" Naruto said.

"Heh… I think that's enough, Mubi…" One of the real Ame-nins said.

"It will be dawn soon… a good time for a hunt…" The one now identified as Mubi said.

"Heheheh… We've been hounding their psyches all night. All that remain is their bodies… Easy prey." The apparent leader of the Ame-nins said as the illusions faded away as he and his teammates appeared on the field of battle.

"I know you… You're the one who maimed my shoulder. And here you are again… making us work hard all night. I'm so glad there's time for a little taste of pay-back." The leader of the Ame-nins said as he looked at Sasuke, not noticing Naruto's smirk.

"**Now who's the trapped rat?"** The Ame-nins looked over their shoulders to see Minotaur, Blue Dragon and Phoenix.

"N-nani…?" One of the Ame-nins then looked down at the ground to see Naruto's, Sasuke's and Sakura's shadows extend along the ground, past the Ame-nins' feet and over to where the three Shadow creatures were coming up.

"Wind/Fire!" Naruto and Sasuke called out respectively and Blue Dragon flapped his wings to create powerful winds as Minotaur breathed a stream of fire. The two attacks then combined to form a fire storm. **Kurama no Kyubi: I know Blue Dragon didn't use his wings for the Wind spell before, but I just got the idea and he will be using the spell this way from now on."**

As the fires died down, the three Ame-nins were lying on the ground, covered in ashes. Naruto walked over to the Ame-nins and found exactly what they were looking for, an earth scroll. **(Kurama no Kyubi: I know they've got a heaven scroll in canon, but if they had that here then team 7 would've never been able to pass the second exam. Plus then this entire fight would've been meaningless.)**

"Hey, an earth scroll!" Naruto said as he picked it up.

Forest of Death, tower

When the group of four finally reached the tower, two Konoha-nins wearing black clothes approached them.

"Huh? … Oh, it's you guys… you're late, Kabuto!" One of them said.

"Sorry. I ran into a little trouble." Kabuto said.

"But it's all good. Thanks to you, our group has a full set of scrolls, same as you do." Naruto said.

"Don't thank me. You earned them." Kabuto said as he turned to team 7 before continuing "This is the door we enter through. Good luck, everyone. Give it your best!"

"Yeah!" Naruto said before he and his two teammates walked towards the door that they were supposed to go through.

Forest of Death, tower, team Kabuto

"What was the outcome…?" A voice asked as Kabuto and his two teammates entered the room.

"They've already exceeded all projections, sir…" Kabuto said as he held up three cards "I've kept a careful record of their progress throughout the second exam. I figure you'll need this."

"And… how were they?" The one that Kabuto was talking to asked.

"Heh heh… it almost sounds like you're a little bit worried… Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto said as he handed the cards to Orochimaru, the snake Sannin.

"No… I'm just curious to hear your opinion… as one of my Oto ninja spies." Orochimaru said as he looked at the cards.

"… Because, just like always, the decision is yours alone." Kabuto said.

"Heh… I do so enjoy your intelligence. Good work…" Orochimaru said as he shunshined away.

Forest of Death, tower, team 7

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura walked into a large room and they were surprised why there weren't anyone there to greet them.

"… There's no one here…" Naruto said.

"Hey! Look at that!" Sakura said as she pointed up to a wall scroll that was on the… wall.

"If qualities of Heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom and knowledge to take your mind higher. If Earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body in the fields and prepare to attack. When both Heaven and Earth are opened together, the path of peril will revert to the righteous path forever. This… something… is the secret way… that guides us on from this place today. Signed: Sandaime Hokage." Naruto read.

"I think it refers to the scrolls… I think maybe it's telling us to open both the heaven and earth scrolls, but…" Sakura said as Naruto held up the scrolls and gave the earth scroll to Sasuke.

"Well… what are we waiting for?" Naruto asked and they opened the scrolls, but were surprised to find the kanji for person inside before smoke suddenly came out of the scrolls, and instantly recognizing what was happening they threw the scrolls away just before there was a large puff of smoke.

"Y-you're…?" Sasuke said as he and the other two looked in surprise at the form of Umino Iruka.

"Hey, kids…! It's been a while, eh?" Iruka said.

"I don't understand!" Sakura yelled.

"You three look like you've really been through the wringer." Iruka said.

"Huh? Iruka-sensei… What are you doing, popping out of a summoning spell?" Naruto asked.

"The spell was designed so that Chunin could greet the applicants at the end of the second exam. It was just luck that I got to be the messenger for the three of you." Iruka said.

"Messenger…?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah… you barely made it!" Iruka said as he checked his watch before saying "Congratulations… you've all passed the second exam. This calls for a celebration! I wish I could take you out for ramen at Ichiraku…"

"YES!" Naruto exclaimed as he jumped at Iruka.

"H-hey. Naruto. Let me finish…" Iruka said.

"I'm so happy!" Naruto said.

"He keeps going… and going…" Sasuke said as he and Sakura sat down on the floor.

"You haven't slowed down a bit… eh, Naruto?" Iruka asked.

"Hmph… Exactly." Sasuke said.

"Oh, right! Iruka-sensei! What can you tell us about the wall scroll?" Sakura asked as she pointed up at said scroll before she continued "It looks like moths have been at it! And we couldn't figure out what it means!"

"Well, part of why I'm here is to make sure you understand the message of the scroll, so… read it again. It's the directive set down by the Sandaime Hokage for all Chunin level ninja." Iruka said.

""Directive"…?" Naruto asked.

"That's right! In the text, the word "Heaven" refers to the human mind… and "Earth" refers to the human body. "If qualities of Heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom and knowledge to take your mind higher." In other words… if Naruto's weakest area is his brain and academic knowledge… he's got to study hard and learn the principles that will help him on his missions." Iruka said and Sakura giggled, but she stopped however when Iruka continued "And… "If Earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body in the fields and prepare to attack." If Sakura's weak point is with her lack of strength and power… she needs to train hard and find the riches of physical stamina and skill. And once you access the qualities of both Heaven and Earth… no mission – however dangerous – will be a wrong path for you. You'll be walking a safe path, even in the midst of the most perilous mission… that's it!"

"Then… what about that blank space? What goes there…?" Sakura asked before Iruka picked up one of the scrolls and held it out in front of the three Genins.

"The word that goes there is a description of what a Chunin should be. The single character that belongs in the blank space is the one from the interior of the scrolls. It's "Jin", meaning one person or all people. The challenge of seeing who survived these past five days was part of the exam designed to test the applicants' basic Chunin abilities. You all passed with flying colors. Chunin are the unit commander class… responsible for leading their teams. They can only do so by a combination of intelligence and strength. I can't emphasize it enough. Learn it… live it. Believe it from the bottom of your heart! Keep the Chunin directive in your mind as you move on to the next exam. That's it… that's the entire message!" Iruka said.

"Yes, sir!" Naruto said as he gave a salute.

"… But… about the third exam… don't overdo things. Especially you, Naruto… I worry about you." Iruka said.

"The day I got the Konoha graduation Hitai-ate… I stopped being a student! No need to worry about me! It's proof of my maturity… and I got it from you, Iruka-sensei! My temper hasn't changed any, and maybe I'm impulsive and full of energy… but I'm not a kid! I'm… a full-fledged shinobi! You got that?" Naruto said.

"… I see… my apologies, Naruto…" Iruka said.

Forest of Death, tower, arena

"Congratulations to you all… on passing the second exam!" Hiruzen said as he looked at the eight teams that were in front of him. Beside him stood the exam proctors and behind him were the Jonin senseis for the different teams.

_'Heh… we started with 81 applicants… it's amazing that 24 of them actually made it. I said I would pare their numbers down to less than half, but really I was only expecting a single digit figure…'_ Anko thought.

The eight teams that had passed were none other than team 7, team 8, team 10, team Guy, team Gaara, team Dosu, team Kabuto and team Shu.

_'I'm famished!'_ Choji thought.

_'Still so many competitors… what a drag!'_ Shikamaru thought.

"Sasuke-kun's team made it!" Ino whispered.

"Your students made an impressive showing! I wonder how much of it was dumb luck… not that it matters. My team is bound to knock them out in the next round. At the next level, it will be all about their abilities… or lack thereof. Ah, well… sometimes being young is all about learning to deal with heart-break, eh, Kakashi?" Guy said.

"Huh? I'm sorry… did you say something?" Kakashi asked as he looked at him.

_'Heh… good one… as annoying as ever, Kakashi… you always did try to get under my skin with your aloof act.' _Guy thought.

_'Wow, so that's Guy-sensei's archrival… man, he beats Guy-sensei hands down in the looks department…'_ Tenten thought.

_'None of the other senseis are as cool as Guy-sensei. Not even close! He's the man! Just wait, Guy-sensei! I'll make you proud!'_ Lee thought.

_'So now only the real players are left. And Uchiha Sasuke made it, eh…?'_ Neji thought.

_'Amazing… there were 27 three-man teams at the start, and only eight teams finished.' _Temari thought.

_'So you came through without a scratch after all, Gaara…'_ The Jonin sensei of the Suna-siblings, Baki thought.

_'Akamaru's acting strange…'_ The Jonin sensei of team 8, Yuhi Kurenai thought.

_'Those guys from Sunagakure…'_ Kiba thought as he glared towards them out of the corner of his eye.

_'Naruto-kun passed, too… I'm so glad! Yay!'_ Hinata thought.

'_Naruto-kun and his team seem to have made it.'_ Bouquet thought.

'_Those Suna-nins… just what are they up to?'_ Shu thought as he stared towards Gaara's team from the corner of his eyes.

_'What the…? All of the applicants from Konoha – that we know – are here!'_ Sakura thought.

"Hmm… I got a bad feeling about this…" Sasuke said quietly as he put his hand over his curse mark.

_'It's astonishing that so many of them survived… and even more astounding that the majority of the survivors were culled from the ranks of the most raw recruits!'_ Hiruzen thought before saying "No wonder their instructors vied for the right to recommend them for this competition…"

"Now Hokage-sama himself will explain about the third exam. Listen up and take every word he says to heart." Anko said before turning to the aging Kage "They're all yours, my lord."

"Very well. The third examination is about to commence… but before I go into the specifics of how it will be conducted… let me make one thing perfectly clear. It pertains to the underlying purpose of the exam." Hiruzen said.

'… _Th-the purpose…?'_ Sakura thought.

"Why do you suppose an examination of this nature is being jointly conducted by all of the nations in our mutual alliance? "To promote friendship among allied nations and raise the level and standards in the art of the shinobi…" Be very clear about what those fine-sounding phrases actually mean. This series of so-called examinations is, in fact…" Hiruzen said.

'"… _So-called…"?'_ Tenten thought before Hiruzen continued.

"… A war-in-miniature between all of our allied lands." He said.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Tenten asked.

"If you were to study our recent history – and consult a map – it would swiftly become apparent that our alliance is, in fact a temporary and mutually beneficial agreement between a group of geographically contiguous lands whose previous existence was one of continual strife… constantly jockeying against one-another, openly and in secret, for power and the control of resources that were perpetually depleted almost to exhaustion in the struggle… until a better way was devised… the way of the Chunin selection examination…" Hiruzen explained.

"But I thought the point of the exams was to select Chunin!" Naruto yelled.

"Make no mistake. When this exam is done, it will have had the side effect of winnowing out any applicants unfit to ascend to the level of Chunin. But even more importantly, it serves as an arena wherein, for the honor of their respective homelands, young shinobi may fight… to the death, if need be." Hiruzen explained.

"The honor of their lands…?" Ino asked.

"This examination will be conducted under the watchful eyes of a number of distinguished guests… including the rulers and nobility of the various lands you all aspire to serve. And among their number will be those who rule over each country's own hidden villages. They will be watching you. If any one nation's applicants demonstrate outstanding skill and superiority, the noblemen from every land will be quick to commission work from those trained in that superior nation. Conversely, if a particular country's applicants are shown to be incompetent or feeble, commissions to agents of that country will dwindle. And when one land is strong in battle, and the village coffers overflow with the fruits of the many outside commissions this begets… then that village may say to its neighbors, "Beware, for we possess prowess and riches and the influence of political power"." Hiruzen explained.

"So? Why is it necessary to stake our lives and fight…?" Kiba yelled.

"The strength of a country is derived from the strength of its village… and the village draws strength from the shinobi who live there… and the greatest strength of those shinobi only emerges in the midst of a life-and-death battle. These exams provide a public arena for each country to show-off and boast of the strength of its warriors, and hence the strength of the country itself. This test has meaning and great consequence. As you struggle for the sake of your very lives and your people, you help to fulfill the dream that was envisioned by our ancestors." Hiruzen explained.

"But… you've always emphasized the concept of "friendship" … Why?" Tenten asked.

"Though my meaning is subtle, I chose my words with care. To preserve the balance of power at the risk of lives is the essence of friendship in the world of shinobi. Let me reiterate before the third exam begins… you are taking no ordinary test. You risk not only your own futures and your dreams, but the dignity and prestige of your home village as well." Hiruzen explained.

"Whatever… Could you wrap up the philosophical talk and get down to the life-and-death stuff any time soon?" Gaara asked.

'_Well, looks like someone's impatient.'_ Shu thought.

"Hmph. So, you insist I explain the third exam? Well… the truth is…" Before he could continue however, a Jonin appeared in front of him, kneeling.

"… Forgive my interruption, Hokage-sama, but… if you don't mind handing the rest of the proceedings over to me, Gekko Hayate, proctor of the third exam." The Jonin, now identified as Hayate said.

"Go ahead." Hiruzen said and Hayate stood up before turning around.

"Good to meet you, everyone… I'm Hayate. Uhhh… before we start the exam… cough… I must ask you to do something for me… cough." Hayate said.

_'What the…?'_ Zaku thought.

_'This guy seems kind of sickly… I wonder if he's all right…'_ Ino thought.

"Ummm… you see… there are some preliminaries to the exam proper… and whether you proceed to the main exam is contingent on how well you manage those." Hayate said.

"Preliminaries?" Sakura asked.

"Preliminaries…? Like what?" Shikamaru yelled.

"Hayate-sensei… I don't understand what you mean by preliminaries. Why can't all of the remaining applicants just proceed directly to the next exam?" Sakura asked.

"Well… I don't want to say that the first two exams weren't demanding enough… but the truth is… cough… we still have too many applicants. Under the traditional rules of the exam, we have to have a preliminary test… to reduce the number of applicants who'll proceed to the third exam." Hayate said.

"B-but…" Sakura started, but Hayate cut her off.

"As Hokage-sama mentioned, a number of honored guests will be observing you during the third exam… so we must make the exam intense, tight, and fast-moving. Hmmm… so anyway… now that you know something of what it's really all about… anyone who doesn't feel up to the challenge, either physically or mentally, can walk away. Just take one step forward… cough, cough, because the preliminaries start… right now!" Hayate said.

"NOW?" Kiba yelled.

Suddenly, Sasuke felt a sting of pain from the curse mark again and he brought his hand up to it.

_'… Ohh! Another wave of pain…'_ Sasuke thought.

_'Oh, Sasuke-kun… I was afraid of this…'_ Sakura thought.

"So, uhhh… cough, looks like no one's bailing out." Hayate said.

"S-Sasuke-kun… maybe you should quit!" Sakura said and Naruto turned around to see that Sasuke was holding his neck in pain.

"Sakura-chan's right, Sasuke. That mark is obviously dangerous, and there's no telling what could happen if you go and fight someone." Naruto said.

"Shut up…!" Sasuke said.

"Sasuke-kun, I know… that you're just barely able to contain the pain!" Sakura said.

"I said…" Sasuke started, but he was cut off by Sakura.

"You leave me no choice. If you won't listen to reason… I'm going to tell all the senseis about that mark! And then…" Sakura said as she began to raise her hand, but Sasuke grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"Keep your mouth shut! Not a word about the mark!" Sasuke said.

"Why do you always have to act so strong? I can't bear to watch you suffer, Sasuke!" Sakura said.

"It's my decision… and it's none of your business! This is my burden to bear… alone. This is more than just a test for me… and I don't care whether I achieve the level of Chunin or not. "Am I strong?" Finding that out is all that matters to me now. I'm here to test myself against the best of the best. And the best opponents I could find are all around us, here and now. Not even for your sake… will I turn away from the path that leads to my dream!" Sasuke said.

"Hey, teme! Why the heck are you trying to act so cool?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto… you're one of the ones that I want to fight!" Sasuke said just before he felt another wave of pain.

"It's just as I'd feared…" Hiruzen said as he observed team 7.

"What can we do?" Ibiki asked.

"Pull him out of the exam… quarantine him under the guard of ANBU agents." Anko said.

"And you really think he'll just go quietly if you order that?" Anko then turned around to see Kakashi "Keep in mind… he's a member of the Uchiha clan."

"Don't talk nonsense! I'll stop him by force if I have to. Any attempts he makes to manipulate his own chakra… will provoke a reaction from that curse mark, forcibly drawing out and draining all his strength. It's the mark of a forbidden art, which debilitates the body of the practitioner! It's a miracle that a child like him is able to bear it at all. By all rights, it should have killed him already." Anko said before turning to the old Hokage "Hokage-sama!"

"I am still concerned about what Orochimaru said… let young Sasuke proceed as he is, and we shall keep our eyes on him." Hiruzen said.

"H-Hokage-sama…!" Anko said.

"However, if the curse mark begins to spread and cause his power to rampage, then we shall indeed take steps to restrain him." Hiruzen said.

"Yes, sir." Ibiki said.

"Ahhh… well then… we'll begin the preliminaries… which consist of individual combat matches, as though this were part of a tournament. As there are a total of 24 combatants remaining. We will hold a total of 12 bouts. Ummm… and the victors of those bouts will advance to the third exam. This is no-holds-barred combat. Each pair of combatants will fight until one of them is dead or unconscious… or admits defeat. Cough. As soon as you sense that your opponent is overpowering you, immediately concede your loss… if you value your life. Uhhh… since we don't want a total blood-bath on our hands, there may be cases… cough, where we ascertain that there is an undisputed winner and step in to end the match. But don't count on that. From here on out, the key to your fate is held in…" Hayate said.

"Open it." Anko spoke into a mic and a wooden board that was on the wall opened up to reveal an electronic score-board.

"Ummmm… this electronic score-board. At the start of every round, we will display the names of the two combatants competing in that match… cough, so, ummm… not to hurry you all to the slaughter… but let's begin. We'll now announce the first two names." Hayate said and everyone waited for the names to come up.

**Uchiha Sasuke**

**Vs**

**Akado Yoroi**

_'Hmm… right off the bat, eh?'_ Sasuke thought.

_'Heh… I couldn't have planned it better!'_ Yoroi thought.

_'Oh, please no! Not Sasuke-kun!'_ Sakura thought.

"Will the individuals whose names are listed on the board come forward now…?" Hayate asked and Sasuke and Yoroi stepped forward and turned to face each other as Hayate continued "Akado Yoroi, Uchiha Sasuke… you two have been selected to compete in the first bout. Any objections?"

"None…" Yoroi said.

"I'm good…" Sasuke said.

_'The only thing I can do now… is just stand here and watch over him. Sasuke-kun…!'_ Sakura thought.

_'Sasuke! If you plan to fight me later… don't you dare lose now!'_ Naruto thought.

_'There's something wrong with Sasuke-kun…'_ Ino thought.

_'… It's the curse mark that's causing it!'_ Dosu thought.

_'Good luck, Sasuke!'_ Lee thought.

_'Show us what you're made of!'_ Neji thought.

_'… The pain's not getting any better…'_ Sasuke thought as the curse mark continued to cause him pain.

_'Heh… looks like the boy's in pain!'_ Yoroi thought.

"Uhhhhh… it's time for the first round to commence… all right? Cough. Everyone other than the two combatants should move up to the upper gallery now." Hayate said and everyone walked towards the stairs to the upper gallery.

"Sasuke, you don't have to worry about that mark." Shu said as he walked passed Sasuke.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sasuke asked before Shu suddenly put his hand on Sasuke's curse mark and the pain suddenly faded "Uhh. The pain's gone."

"It's a Dragon Scale. This one in particular is meant to seal away the curse mark. And only Shadow power can destroy it." Shu said as he continued walking.

'_Heheh… Clever little dragon, sealing away the curse mark like that. Oh, well. Guess I won't be able to see him using the power of that mark after all.'_ Orochimaru – who was disguised as team Dosu's sensei – thought.

"All right… please begin!" Hayate said.

Chapter preview

Orochimaru "Oh, you know how it is… two guys have something… and a third one's just got to get it, too. You haven't had it for very long yourself, you know. Know what it is yet? … It's… the Sharingan!"

Sakura "Understand this… I'm never letting you anywhere near Sasuke-kun!"

Ino "Sakura, I think you've forgotten who you're talking to. Don't cop an attitude with me, you little crybaby."

Guy "… My dear friends from Suna… if you don't mind, I'd like to offer a word of advice… Be prepared. You have no idea… how strong this boy really is."

Jiro "One of the powers of my eyes are to separate my vision from my eyes, so right now, I'm seeing you from two different angles. There's no way you can win."

Naruto "Don't… underestimate me!"

Hayate "Next time on… cough… on Naruto's Blue Dragon: Preliminaries."

Shu "You know what they say, "Knowledge is power" and unfortunately for you I already know everything about you, Sabaku no Gaara, son of the Yondaime Kazekage and Jinchuriki of Shukaku no Ichibi."

Character status

Naruto: Level: 10

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Oiroke, Harem, Kage Bunshin, Futon: Kamikaze, Wind Sword, Wind.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Shadow: Blue Dragon.

Sasuke: Level: 10

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Katon: Goukakyo, Katon: Housenka, Katon: Ryuka, Fire Sword, Fire.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.

Shadow: Minotaur.

Sakura: Level: 6

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Shadow: Phoenix.

Shikamaru: Level: 6

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Kagemane, Ino-Shika-Cho (with Ino and Choji).

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Ino: Level: 6

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Shintenshin, Ino-Shika-Cho (with Shikamaru and Choji).

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kabuto: Level: 27

Techniques: unknown.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Dosu: Level: 13

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Kyomeisen.

Weapons: Melody Arm.

**Kurama no Kyubi:** That's another chapter down, also note that I recently noticed that the spells that Jiro and Orochimaru used last chapter where slightly wrong. It's been so long since last I played Blue Dragon so I had forgotten that the advanced spells ended with "us" and not "aga" like they do in Kingdom Hearts. Now please review.


	6. Preliminaries

**Naruto's Blue Dragon**

**Chunin exam arc**

**Kurama no Kyubi: **Hello people. In this chapter there's gonna be quite a few battles to look forward to… but you already knew that, so let's not waste any time and hurry up with the reviews so we can start the chapter.

**Guest:** Same as rennegan Jinchuriki

**Kurama no Kyubi:** Well, there's a good reason for the similarities. You see, in some of my stories where I go through the Naruto story, I have to go through the same scenes over and over again, so instead of writing it over again, I just copy/paste from another one of my stories where I've already gone through that part.

"Blue Dragon." Normal speech

'_Blue Dragon.'_ Normal thought

"**Blue Dragon." Biju and summoning speech**

'_**Blue Dragon.'**_** Biju and summoning thought**

**Hayate:** Ummm… Kurama no Kyubi… cough, cough… doesn't own anything except for the Shadows that he comes up with himself.

Chapter 5: Preliminaries

"All right… please begin!" Hayate said.

"Shall I start?" Yoroi asked as he formed a hand sign.

"Go for it." Sasuke said.

Yoroi's right arm was then covered in a blue energy before he pulled out three shuriken and threw them at Sasuke. Sasuke however pulled out a kunai and deflected the shuriken before weaving a series of hand signs.

"Katon: Goukakyo no Jutsu!" He called out as he fired a large fire ball at Yoroi who simply held out his right hand as if to block the fire ball. As the ball of heated oxygen hit Yoroi's hand however, the fire seemed to get sucked into the hand. **(Kurama no Kyubi: Yoroi absorbs chakra, remember?)**

'_Nani?'_ Sasuke thought in surprise.

"Hey, what just happened? I thought he hit him." Sakura said.

"It seems that this Yoroi character is somehow able to absorb chakra." Kakashi said.

Sasuke then threw three shuriken at Yoroi, but he simply just dodged them as Sasuke went through a series of hand signs.

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" Sasuke called out as he fired several smaller fire balls towards Yoroi. Yoroi then attempted to absorb the chakra of the attack, rendering it completely harmless, however shuriken suddenly emerged from within the fire balls.

'_There were shuriken within the flames?'_ He thought in shock as all of the shuriken hit their mark.

'_So that's how it is. He's absorbing the chakra out of my Ninjutsu… Well, in that case…'_ Sasuke thought as he had observed Yoroi's actions with his Sharingan which he activated just before using the Housenka.

Yoroi then charged at Sasuke and attempted to grab the Uchiha's neck, but said Uchiha simply rolled out of the way before jumping back as he was enshrouded in a green aura.

"Now, then… Let me show you the true gap between our powers." Sasuke said.

"The true gap between our powers, you say? You shouldn't get too cocky, _rookie_." Yoroi said.

"Hey, Sasuke, what do you think you're doing?" Naruto yelled as he realized what his teammate was planning.

Sasuke then smirked as Minotaur rose out of the floor, surprising nearly everyone in the room.

"What the…? Sasuke-kun too…?" Ino asked.

"Looks like it." Shikamaru said.

"Man, what's with that team?" Choji asked.

'_A Shadow, huh? And at his age too…'_ Asuma thought.

"What is that thing?" Kiba asked.

"From the looks of it, it seems that his shadow has taken a physical shape." Shino said.

'_His shadow has obviously taken a physical shape… but how is that even possible? I've never heard of any techniques like that.'_ Kurenai thought.

"What the…? What happened to his shadow?" Lee asked. **(Kurama no Kyubi: He was nearly unconscious when Sakura first summoned her Shadow and when Naruto later summoned his, so he doesn't really remember that very well.)**

"It looks like what Naruto did in the forest." Tenten said as Neji simply observed what was going on.

'_So, Sasuke has unlocked his Shadow too, I see. I wonder if he did it through his own powers or if it was triggered by the curse mark.'_ Kakashi thought.

"What do you think that thing is?" Temari asked.

"I don't know, but I'm getting a bad feeling about this." Kankuro said before he noticed that Gaara's eyes were twitching '_I've got a really bad feeling about this…'_

"Let's see you absorb this! Fire Sword!" Sasuke said before Minotaur's right arm was covered in crimson flames and he shot forth towards Yoroi before swinging his arm down. Yoroi attempted to block however, but that seemed to be a bad mistake as he wasn't able to absorb the attack and said attack struck home, knocking the older Konoha-nin out.

'_Good thinking. Shadows uses nature energies instead of normal chakra, so Yoroi's chakra absorption ability would pretty much be rendered useless against Minotaur's attacks.'_ Shu thought.

'_I can tell without even looking…'_ Hayate thought as he observed Yoroi's burned body before standing up and saying "Uchiha Sasuke is the champion of the first battle… and advances past the preliminaries to the next level!"

Minotaur then disappeared back into Sasuke's shadow as said Uchiha walked towards the stairs and up to the upper gallery.

'_He's handling his Shadow powers much more efficiently than most people. And to think he's able to pull off an attack like Fire Sword without anyone training him… A true Uchiha indeed. I just hope he doesn't get too dependent on his Shadow.'_ Jiro thought.

"Oooooh! Sasuke-kun! You're the best!" Ino said.

"I'm starving. My stomach could not be more empty." Choji said.

'… _That's it. We're done for.'_ Shikamaru thought.

"W-wow…" Hinata said.

"Come on. It wasn't that great." Kiba said.

Orochimaru who was disguised as team Dosu's sensei shivered in excitement before licking his lips '_Brilliant…'_

"All right, Sasuke, you did it!" Naruto said as Sasuke reached them.

'_Uchiha Sasuke… What is he?'_ Neji thought before activating his Byakugan to scan Sasuke, but he didn't find anything out of the ordinary.

"Well then… right. Let's get the next match going." Hayate said before the next two names came up on the score-board.

**Zaku Abumi**

**Vs**

**Aburame Shino**

"Who's that loser?" Zaku asked.

Soon after were Zaku and Shino both standing in the middle of the room, facing each other.

"Uhhh… All right, everyone. It's time for the second match of the prelims to begin." Hayate said.

'_It's that Oto-nin…'_ Sakura thought as she remembered him.

"I hope Shino's up to this…" Hinata said.

"He's pretty tough. Out of all the people here, he's the only one I wouldn't want to go up against…" Kiba said.

"Okay… you may begin." Hayate said.

Just then Orochimaru shunshined away, something that didn't go unnoticed by Kakashi who quickly shunshined away as well.

"Huh? Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Where'd he go?" Sakura asked as team Shu's "sensei" looked towards where Kakashi had just been as he narrowed his eyes.

Forest of Death, tower, corridor

Orochimaru walked through a corridor in the tower when Kakashi appeared behind him.

"Tell me, Oto-nin. Why did you leave?" Kakashi asked as Orochimaru stopped walking.

"… Looks like you're all grown up, Kakashi-kun." Orochimaru said before turning around as he removed his "face".

"… You're…" Kakashi said as his visible eye widened.

"It's been a long time…" Orochimaru said.

"Orochimaru…" Kakashi said.

"… Pardon my rudeness, Kakashi-kun, but… I have no use for you." Orochimaru said.

"What do you want with Sasuke…?" Kakashi asked.

"Oh, you know how it is… two guys have something… and a third one's just got to get it, too. You haven't had it for very long yourself, you know. Know what it is yet?" Orochimaru said and Kakashi realized what it was he was after "… It's… the Sharingan! I must possess… Uchiha blood!"

"What for…?" Kakashi asked.

"… The newly created village of Otogakure…. That is my home, you see… is it becoming clear?" Orochimaru asked.

"So it's just your greed… and delusions of grandeur." Kakashi said.

"I suppose you could say that… good help is so hard to find these days… and I need all sorts of pawns at my disposal." Orochimaru said.

"So, you think that Sasuke… is one of your pawns?" Kakashi asked.

"Oh, he's a very special pawn… a real keeper… unlike the boys who are going through the rigors of the exam process right now. Those boys… are disposable." Orochimaru said.

Suddenly, Kakashi was enshrouded in a dark-brown aura before a three-headed dog rose out of the ground.

"Stay away from Sasuke. Even if you are one of _those_ three ninja… the man I am today can take you down!" Kakashi said before Orochimaru started laughing "What's so funny?"

"You say one thing… and do another." Orochimaru said.

"What?" Kakashi asked.

"The Dragon Scale Shu-kun placed upon Sasuke-kun was futile! When a heart is sufficiently focused and ruthless in its desires… then, for good or evil, the end will justify any means. Sasuke-kun possesses just such a heart… the heart of an avenger." Orochimaru said.

"So that's how you got your hooks into him… but Sasuke's not…" Kakashi said.

"A day will come when he will seek me out… hungry for power! Meanwhile… I believe you were offering to kill me. Care to try? Or are you all talk?" Orochimaru asked.

"Tch. Thundera Sword!" The right hand of Kakashi's Shadow was then engulfed in thunder and he swung the sword of lightning down at Orochimaru who was suddenly enshrouded in a dark-purple aura.

"Shieldus!" Orochimaru said and Serpent rose up as a shield appeared around them, protecting Orochimaru from the Thundera Sword.

Then Orochimaru let out a wave of Killing Intent and Kakashi suddenly experienced his own death at the snake Sannin's hands.

'_Did I miscalculate? What kind of fool am I?'_ Kakashi thought as Orochimaru recalled Serpent, turned around and walked away.

Forest of Death, tower, arena

Zaku was lying on the floor with his right arm having been blown off as Hayate examined him before standing up.

"He's… finished." He said.

"Wh-what the…? How did… Neji?" Lee asked as he looked towards his teammate.

'_Byakugan!'_ Neji thought as he activated his family's Kekkei Genkai to observe Shino "Whoa… I thought he'd used a Kuchiyose to marshal the bugs, but… His whole body's infested with them."

"N-nani?" Lee asked.

"There's a legend in Konoha of a clan of beetle-masters…" Guy said.

"Yes… now that you mention it… I've heard the birthright of anyone born into the clan is that from the moment they enter the world, their bodies are given over to the crawling vermin to use as nests. The beetle-masters enter into a contract with the bugs, wherein the swarms will answer to the master's call, fighting his battles and bending to his will… and the beetles are compensated by the abundance of the master's chakra, which they consume for food." Neji said.

"And you're telling me that Shino… is a member of this clan?" Lee asked.

"Poor Zaku…" Dosu said.

"Why did his arms explode?" Kin asked.

"From the looks of things, this Shino character directed the beetles to plug up the exit holes in Zaku's hands. When Zaku tried to unleash the Zankuha, the pressure built up inside his arm with nowhere to go, until… Like a gun barrel when the path of a bullet is blocked, Zaku blew his own arm off." Dosu explained as Zaku was being carried away by a couple of medics '_We didn't know each other well… but he's a member of my team. And teammates look out for one-another. I'm making it my business to ensure there's payback.'_

"The winner is Aburame Shino!" Hayate said.

_'Ugh… that guy freaks me out.'_ Kurenai thought before Shino came over to them.

"So, uh… Shino-kun… nice job." Hinata said.

"That was awesome!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Yep. So… don't let the team down." Shino said.

"Hey!" Kiba yelled before thinking _'Suddenly, he's acting like he's the boss of us!'_

"So… uhhh… we're moving on to the next match. Cough." Hayate said.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed when he saw Kakashi appearing there via Shunshine no jutsu.

"Yo!" Kakashi said.

"What do you mean, "Yo"? Why did you disappear all of a sudden?" Sakura asked.

"I just had to go check up on something." Kakashi said.

'That was reckless of you, Kakashi-san, trying to take on Orochimaru by yourself. What's next? Are you going to try and take on Uchiha Itachi on your own?' Kakashi heard Logi's voice in his head, though he ignored it.** (Kurama no Kyubi: Oh, Logi, you have **_**no**_** idea.)**

"Hey, look!" Sasuke said as he noticed the next two names coming up.

**Tsurugi Misumi**

**Vs**

**Kankuro**

_'My turn… at last!'_ Kankuro thought before he walked down.

_'Kankuro… isn't taking this seriously at all.'_ Baki thought.

_'Fool!'_ Gaara thought.

_'Him again!'_ Naruto thought as he recognized the older boy.

"All right… then… you may begin." Hayate said as the two competitors had gotten down.

"Even though you're just a little brat… I'm not letting down my guard like Yoroi did. In fact, let me make one thing perfectly clear… you'd be better off forfeiting the match before you get hurt. This won't take long at all." Misumi said.

"I agree… I'll be finished with you in no time." Kankuro said as he put down the bandaged object that he previously had on his back.

The battle didn't last very long as Misumi wrapped himself around Kankuro and squeezed until the Suna-nin's neck snapped. But it appeared to only be a puppet that had been temporarily altered to look like Kankuro while the real Kankuro was hiding in the bandages and he made the puppet squeeze Misumi instead.

"Due to Misumi's inability to fight back… the winner of the match is Kankuro!" Hayate said.

"Two of them against one guy… Isn't that against the rules? Isn't it, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Not in this case, Naruto. The "other guy" is just some kind of golem…" Kakashi said.

"Kugutsu no jutsu! He manipulates a lifeless doll by projecting the power of his chakra! The golem is a weapon, just like shuriken." Sakura explained.

"In any event… it's time for the fourth match." Hayate said.

"Whoa! Whoa! This is like a never-ending freak show!" Naruto said.

"Look who's talking." Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Good one!" Sakura said as she giggled.

"Hmm? Well, this'll be interesting." Sasuke said and everyone looked up to see the next two names.

**Ra Bouquet**

**Vs**

**Yakushi Kabuto**

"Hey, Bouquet-chan! It's your turn!" Naruto said as he looked at Bouquet.

'_I've been wanting to find out what kind of powers these Ryu-nins have.'_ Sasuke thought as Bouquet and Kabuto walked down.

"Hey, isn't that the girl we met in the forest?" Temari asked.

"Yeah… The one that Gaara spared." Kankuro said.

'_Ho ho… This'll be interesting.'_ Hiruzen thought.

"All right, then… you may begin." Hayate said.

"I suggest that you withdraw from the match." Kabuto said.

"Actually, it might be best for you to withdraw." Bouquet said.

"Heh. We'll see…" Kabuto said before going through a series of hand signs and both of his were enshrouded in a blue glow.

"Chakra scalpels?" Sakura asked.

"Chakra what-now?" Naruto asked.

"Chakra scalpels. It's a medical technique in-which you can operate on the insides of a patient's body without harming the exterior. And – if you're good enough – it can even be used in battle by hitting your opponent's pressure points." Kakashi explained.

"Whoa. Sounds neat." Naruto exclaimed.

'_But only one at Jonin-Level would be capable of that. So how is it that mere Genin would be capable of using a chakra scalpel in battle?'_ Kakashi thought.

Bouquet then charged at Kabuto and attempted to punch him, but the Konoha-nin dodged before hitting a pressure point in Bouquet's left shoulder before kicking her away.

"You should surrender. How are you planning on fighting with only one arm?" Kabuto asked as he saw that Bouquet got up on her feet.

"Heh. Who said that I couldn't use my arm?" She asked before she moved said arm.

'_Nani?'_ Kabuto thought.

"It's time for me to show you some of my tricks." Bouquet said before she was enshrouded by a purple aura and suddenly, a hippo rose out of the floor.

"Hippopon Hippotoma Transform! Turn me into Yakushi Kabuto!" She said before being engulfed by a cloud of smoke, and when the smoke faded, it revealed the form of Kabuto.

"How's she expecting to beat him with a Henge?" Sakura asked.

"That's no mere Henge." Sasuke said as he had activated his Sharingan.

"Huh? What do you mean, Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"With my Sharingan, I can see through any illusion, and a Henge can't fool me… But, when I look at her, she's identical to Kabuto in every way. Even her signature's the same." Sasuke said.

'_If she's gotten this far, she'd know that a Henge would be useless in an actual battle, so there's got to be more to it.'_ Kabuto thought.

"Well, then. Shall we continue?" Bouquet said, perfectly imitating Kabuto's voice before weaving a series of hand signs and afterwards chakra scalpels appeared around her hands.

'_So that's it! She can transform into her opponents and then she'll be able to use their techniques… but there's still something that bothers me. Why didn't she just do this from the start instead of just attacking me like she did?'_ Kabuto thought.

Bouquet then charged at Kabuto and attempted to hit him, but the Oto spy blocked her with his own chakra scalpel. Bouquet then aimed her other hand for Kabuto's forehead, but he just ducked under her and hit her in the stomach with his other hand before kicking her in the jaw and pulling out a kunai.

Bouquet managed to leap backwards however, avoiding a slash from the knife.

"… I see. The reason you seemed to just blindly charge at me before was because you _wanted_ me to hit you. It was the only way you could copy my technique. Sorry, but it seems like you just can't beat the original. Also it seems like you can only transform yourself into your opponents, so you can't win this." Kabuto said.

"Yeah, that's true. But it seems like you've misunderstood my technique… and that's a very bad mistake." Bouquet said.

"What do you mean?" Kabuto asked.

"My technique isn't just limited by the ones I'm fighting, but by whoever and whatever I _see_. Basically, as long as I've seen something just once in my life, I can transform into it whenever I want, for the rest of my life." Bouquet said.

"Hippopon Hippotoma Transform! Turn me into the creepiest guy from Suna!" There was another puff of smoke and once said smoke faded, it revealed none other than Gaara.

'_What the…? Gaara?'_ Temari thought.

'_She hit the nail with "creepiest" alright.'_ Kankuro thought.

"Now let's see if I can do this… hmmm…" Bouquet said as she made the cork of her gourd shoot out before sand came out.

'_So, she can even control the sand… that means… did she survive a battle with Gaara?'_ Baki thought before remembering what Kankuro had said earlier.

"Yeah… The one that Gaara spared."

'_I don't get it, why would Gaara of all people spare her life?'_ He thought.

"Now, let's try this out. Sabaku Kyu!" Bouquet said and a tendril of sand shot forward and covered Kabuto's whole body, leaving only his face visible "Don't worry, I won't go for the "Soso" part – not that I'm able to, that is – but this should at least be enough to end the match."

"Uhhh… Since Kabuto can't fight back, the winner is Ra Bouquet!" Hayate announced and Bouquet let Kabuto free from the sand as she reverted to her normal form and the sand vanished as well.

"Whoa! Bouquet-chan won!" Naruto exclaimed.

'_How was she able to do a transformation like that? I've never seen or heard of anything like it.'_ Sasuke thought as Bouquet came over to them.

"Way to go, Bouquet-chan!" Naruto congratulated as he gave her a thumbs-up.

"Arigato, Naruto-kun." Bouquet said.

"It's time for the next battle to begin." Hayate said as Kabuto had also returned to the upper gallery, seeing as though he didn't sustain all that many injuries.

"So, tell me, Bouquet-chan. How did you do that transformation? Could you teach it to me?" Naruto asked, making Bouquet blush at the thought of teaching him something.

"Actually, it's a technique that only I can use due to my Shadow. Only people with a Hippopotamus Shadow can do it." She said.

"Oh. I see." Naruto said disappointed.

Sakura who was looking at the two interact, felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to see Shu who then pointed at the score-board and she looked towards said score-board, and her eyes widened as she saw that the next two names were…

**Haruno Sakura**

**Vs**

**Yamanaka Ino**

Shortly afterwards were the two kunoichi standing in front of each other in the middle of the room.

"So, Sakura… it's you and me… going head-to-head. I never saw it coming." Ino said before Sakura took of her Hitai-ate.

"Wh-what the…?" Naruto said.

_'Ino looks pretty fierce… but among the kunoichi rookies, she's far from the top of the pack. So you have to wonder if she can even give Sakura a good workout.'_ Asuma thought.

"Of all the people for Ino to go up against, it would have to be Sakura. What a drag." Shikamaru said.

"Do you think Ino will be all right?" Choji asked.

'_Yeah, Ino… What's your plan?'_ Asuma thought.

"Understand this… I'm never letting you anywhere near Sasuke-kun." Sakura said.

"WHAT…?" Ino yelled.

"You're not even his type! And I'm not the weak, needy little girl I used to be. You're not even on my radar now." Sakura said.

"Sakura… I think you've forgotten who you're talking to. Don't cop an attitude with me, you little crybaby." Ino said.

"Aw, man! Sakura just crossed the line. That Ino chick scares me silly!" Naruto said.

"Hmm… Sakura's not trying to throw her weight around… and she's not the kind who'd bully someone just to be cruel. She's just making sure Ino is too riled up to think of going easy on her… for old time's sake." Kakashi said.

"What are they getting so intense about?" Naruto asked and Kakashi sighed.

_'He just can't see that he's exactly the same way when it comes to Sasuke.'_ Kakashi thought before saying "Well, Naruto… rivalry is a tricky business… not that I would know." Earning him a glare from Guy.

_'I get it… Sakura. Let's do this fair and square!'_ Ino thought as she took of her Hitai-ate and both her and Sakura wrapped them around their foreheads.

The two then charged at each other as Sakura went through a series of hand signs.

'_Just plain old Bunshin…?'_ Ino thought, recognizing the sequence, and two other Sakura's appeared "This isn't an academy graduation exam, you know. You can't beat me with classic, textbook moves!" '_Spotting the real one from the fakes will be a piece of cake…'_

'_I'll focus all of my chakra within my feet… and then up I go!'_ Sakura thought before she and the Bunshins suddenly vanished in a burst of speed.

'_She's so fast!'_ Ino thought before Sakura appeared in her face and punched her as the Bunshins vanished.

"I may have been a crybaby back in the day… but who's crying now? Come on, Ino… stop holding back. I know you can do better than this!" Sakura yelled.

"If that's the way you want it, fine by me. The gloves are off." Ino said.

"Look at Sakura-chan go. She's awesome." Naruto said.

"Sakura is a solid contender. Her mastery of the fundamental techniques for the utilization of chakra is definitely the best among the rookies." Kakashi said.

"Even better than me?" Naruto asked.

"Uh… Yeah." Kakashi said before continuing explaining "The technical art of circulating chakra to every nook and cranny of the body and deploying it with precise timing is an area in which Sakura has surpassed even Sasuke. From the beginning, her mastery of chakra manipulation has been superb."

'_Oh, Sakura-san… just watching you move is a pleasure!'_ Lee thought.

Sakura and Ino charged at each other before punching, however both of them blocked the others punch with their free hand. They then leaped back before pulling out a shuriken each and throwing the star-shaped projectiles at one-another, but the shuriken hit each other.

'_But her opponent is also far above the norm… It looks like fair fight… one that could drag on and on.'_ Lee thought.

'_She was such a baby… when did she turn so tough?'_ Ino thought after the match had lasted for a while.

'_I can do this! I can!'_ Sakura thought as both she and Ino threw a punch and this time they hit each other, and both were sent backwards.

'_The way their going, this could last forever.'_ Sasuke thought.

'_It's taking quite a while… They've been going at it for at least 10 minutes.'_ Hayate thought.

"You can't be my equal! It's unthinkable!" Ino yelled.

"Hmph… You're right. The magnitude of your obsession with your long, flowing hair and superficial appearances is peerless… I'm just no match for you." Sakura said.

"Making fun of me? You've gone too far!" Ino yelled as she pulled out a kunai.

"Ino's an idiot, letting Sakura's words get to her like that. She's falling right into Sakura's trap." Shikamaru said.

"I don't like seeing Ino this way." Choji said.

Ino then – to everyone's surprise – used the kunai to cut her hair just behind where the ponytail began.

"Ha ha… You fool." Sakura said.

'_Oh, man… She's completely lost it!'_ Shikamaru thought.

"Yaaagh! This is nothing!" Ino yelled before throwing her hair out over the floor.

"Sh-she's scary…" Naruto said.

"… You said it…" Sasuke added.

"This ends now! I'm gonna make your lips say, "I give up"!" Ino said as she weaved a hand sign.

"Don't tell me… She couldn't mean…" Shikamaru said.

"She's thinking about it…" Choji said as Asuma leaned forward.

'_I recognize that sign.'_ Sakura thought as Ino had her arms extended forward as her hands made the sign for Shintenshin no Jutsu.

"Just as I thought… It's her signature Shintenshin move, transferring heart and soul from one body to another!" Shikamaru yelled.

"That baka." Asuma said.

"I understand your impatience, but… You're wasting your time." Sakura said.

"Hmph. We'll see about that!" Ino said.

"I see what you're planning… Shintenshin no Jutsu, where all of your psychic and spiritual energy is loosed upon your enemy, and you usurp the psyche of your opponent, reducing your rival to helplessness within her own body while you possess it. But that formidable art has a few inherent flaws. First of all, that bolt of mental energy can only move along a direct path… and it moves very slowly. Secondly, even if that packet of mental energy should miss its target, it is unable to return to the attacker's body for several minutes. And during that time, your own body remains limp, helpless… vulnerable as a rag-doll." Sakura explained.

'_The Shintenshin is an unparalleled tool for espionage and infiltration, but… using it in a heads-up fight is suicide.'_ Asuma thought.

'_Sakura's in no danger as long as she presents a moving target. And if Ino tries her Jutsu and fails, Sakura will be able to punish Ino's defenseless body until Ino's spirit is able to return. If it comes to that, Hayate will have to stop the match.'_ Kakashi thought.

"What of it? No one knows what will happen here until I give it a try!" Ino yelled.

"You'll only get one chance. If you miss, it's over. You know it as well as I do." Sakura said.

'_In a combat situation, Ino's Jutsu is only ever supposed to be used in concert with her teammates. She's never supposed to use it until I freeze them first with my "Kagemane no Jutsu"… This is absurd!'_ Shikamaru thought.

'_She's not even going to hit her mark.'_ Asuma thought before Sakura started running.

"No, You fool…!" Shikamaru yelled.

"Ninpou: Shintenshin no Jutsu!" Ino called out before body slumped as Sakura stopped running.

"… Who's who?" Shikamaru asked.

"Heh. You lose… Ino." Sakura said.

"I guess it's all over now…" Shikamaru said.

"I can't believe she actually tried it." Choji said.

"Guess you're done." Sakura said as she was about to walk towards Ino's body, but found out that she couldn't move and she looked down to see that some strands of Ino's hair had latched on to her feet "Th-this is…!"

"Gotcha, Sakura!" Sakura then looked towards Ino to see that she was on her knees, channeling chakra through her hair, hence why Sakura couldn't move "Heh… I set a trap… and you fell for it."

"…You don't mean…" Sakura said.

"Yep. The hand signs I made earlier were just a distraction… to keep you from seeing the real trap. You zigged, you zagged… and you fell right into it. Can't move at all, can you? I made a living rope by running chakra through my own cut hair." Ino said before standing up and weaving the hand signs again "And now that I've got you where I want you… I can take up occupancy… and make you surrender. I think the odds are 100% I'm gonna hit my target, don't you think?"

"Looks like it." Kakashi said.

"That nut… Making herself look like a loser so she could win." Shikamaru said.

"Hmmm. I've never seen the Shintenshin in action before… this should be quite interesting, though I'll doubt that she'll get much result." Shu said.

"Huh? Why's that?" Naruto asked.

"Just watch and see for yourself." Shu said with a grin.

'_I can't move…!'_ Sakura thought.

"And so… Shintenshin no Jutsu!" Ino called out before her body slumped and Sakura's head slumped slightly.

"Heh… Too bad… Sakura." Ino/Sakura said before she suddenly felt something.

Sakura's mindscape

Ino suddenly appeared in a field of cherry blossoms and she looked around confused.

'_What the? Where am I?'_ She thought before she felt a shadow looming over her and she turned around to see a huge phoenix. **(Kurama no Kyubi: Note that it's not Phoenix in her Shadow form, but rather in a full phoenix form with talons and everything.)**

"**LEAVE!"** The phoenix screeched out and Ino suddenly felt everything go black.

Forest of Death, tower, arena

Suddenly a beam of chakra shot out of Sakura's body and into Ino's before both girls opened their eyes while panting, though Ino was panting more heavily than Sakura.

'_Incredible! She was actually able to break Ino's hold!'_ Shikamaru thought.

"Hey. What happened?" Naruto asked.

"Where do you think a Shadow-Wielder's Shadow is, when not on the outside?" Shu asked.

"I dunno." Naruto said and Shu sighed.

"Whenever a Shadow-Wielder's Shadow isn't on the outside, they're in their respective wielder's mindscape. Which is the same place that one using the Shintenshin goes to whenever using said Jutsu. So basically, Ino was thrown out by Phoenix." Jiro explained.

"I didn't think that that phoenix or whatever would be in there." Ino said.

"Well, where else should she be?" Sakura asked before a pink aura surrounded her and Phoenix came out of the floor.

'_She too, huh? Well this explains why the Shintenshin didn't work.'_ Asuma thought.

"I think it's time to end this, wouldn't you say?" Sakura asked.

"Sure." Ino said before pulling out a kunai with several explosive tags attached to it and she threw it towards Sakura.

"Shield!" Sakura said as she held out her arm and a shield suddenly appeared around her and Phoenix before the kunai hit as all of the explosive tags blew up. As the smoke faded though, the shield was still there and Sakura was completely unharmed before the shield vanished as it had outlived its usefulness.

"And now… Fire!" Sakura said and Phoenix's feathers seemed to start burning before she flapped her wings, sending a wave of fire towards Ino, who was just barely able to dodge it, but it was obvious that she couldn't continue the fight.

"Since Ino can't continue to fight, I'm stopping this match now, before it goes any further!" Hayate said before continuing "The winner is Haruno Sakura!"

"Alright! Way to go, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled as Sakura recalled her Shadow.

'_Hmmm. Well, this is something I didn't expect. Naruto and Sasuke were kinda obvious to predict, but I would've never thought that Sakura would have a Shadow, and one so strong as a Phoenix too.'_ Kakashi thought.

Soon after had both Sakura and Ino returned to their respective teams, everyone waited for the next two names to come up.

**Tenten**

**Vs**

**Temari**

"The sixth match of the preliminaries… Tenten against Temari. Please step forward." Hayate said as Tenten and Temari walked down the stairs and to the center of the room.

"Hey, look… another candidate from Suna! This should be fun!" Neji said.

"Yeah, Tenten! Go!" Lee yelled.

"Begin!" Hayate said before the fight started.

"Tenten, use the power of youth!" Lee yelled.

"That's the spirit! Keep cheering her on!" Guy yelled.

This battle was a total mismatch, Tenten tried to hit Temari with her weapons, but the Suna-nin easily blew them away, using her Futon Jutsu. And after Tenten had attacked a total of three times, she was taken down by a single attack from Temari and landed with her back on the Suna-nin's, now folded fan.

"She shut down Tenten's weapons attack like it was nothing!" Neji said.

"Impossible!" Lee said.

"How dull… It's a shame really…" Temari said.

"Wha…? What's her story?" Naruto asked no one in particular.

"Well, we weren't about to let ourselves be defeated in a place like this, now were we?" Kankuro said.

_'The warriors from Suna… are truly fearsome!'_ Hiruzen thought.

"The winner of the sixth round match… is Temari!" Hayate said before Temari suddenly threw Tenten, but Lee managed to catch her.

"Nice catch!" Temari commented.

"What's wrong with you? That's not how you treat a worthy opponent… especially not one you've just defeated!" Lee yelled as he put Tenten down.

"Oh, shut up! Get yourself and that loser out of my way." Temari said, making Lee angry.

"No, Lee…!" Neji yelled but his teammate didn't listen.

"Konoha Senpou!" Lee said as he moved in for a roundhouse kick, but Temari blocked it with her fan "What the…?"

"Hah! Just as I thought… you're not so fast, after all!" Temari said.

"What…?" Lee said.

"That's enough, Lee!" Guy said as he shunshined down.

"Guy-sensei…!" Lee said.

"Temari… get back up here! You've already been declared the winner… how long do you intend to trifle with that homely little prince charming?" Gaara asked.

"What…?" Lee said as he looked Gaara in the eyes.

"Had enough now, Lee?" Guy asked before looking up at the Suna-nins "… My dear friends from Suna… if you don't mind, I'd like to offer a word of advice… be prepared. You have no idea… how strong this boy really is."

"He actually picked a fight those freaks from Suna… in his place, I'd have run for cover!" Kiba said.

"Th-they really creep me out!" Hinata said.

"Don't you lose to them, Naruto!" Sakura said.

"Don't worry, I won't!" Naruto said with a grin.

"Careful, Naruto. They're pretty strong." Sasuke said.

"Okay! My turn! I'm good to go. Who thinks he can take me?" Naruto said.

"Who's next? I have a feeling it's me!" Lee said as he appeared in-between Naruto and Shu.

**Nara Shikamaru**

**Vs**

**Kin Tsuchi**

"Aw, man!" Lee said.

"Kuso!" Naruto said.

"Me, eh?" Shikamaru said.

"He manipulates shadows… be wary of them." Dosu said as Kin started walking towards the stairs.

"Heh… It'll take a lot more than a stupid technique like that to beat me!" Kin said.

"This is such a drag. And how embarrassing… being expected to fight a girl…" Shikamaru said as they stood in the center of the room.

"If that's the way you feel, I'll put you out of your misery quickly!" Kin said.

"Shikamaru, don't you dare lose!" Ino yelled.

_'Well… Ino's suddenly full of energy!' _Choji thought.

_'Even though I learned about the strengths of the Oto ninja when we battled during the second exam… I don't have a clue about what this one's specialty is. On the other hand, she's had a good opportunity to observe me in action. But I wonder…'_ Shikamaru thought.

"Begin! Cough." Hayate said and the battle commenced.

This battle didn't last very long, Kin threw some senbon with bells attached to them and said senbons went into the wall behind Shikamaru. There were also threads attached to the bells and Shikamaru trailed his shadow under those threads so Kin wouldn't see him coming. When she was trapped by the Kagemane, Shikamaru threw a shuriken towards Kin, forcing her to do the same and just before the shuriken could hit both of them leaned back and avoided the deadly throwing-stars, but Kin was too close to the wall and her head slammed into it so hard that she get knocked-out.

"A Shinobi uses everything to his advantage… including the terrain… and the architecture as well. You were locked into the same movements as I… but only one of us was close enough to the wall to give herself a concussion! The shuriken were just a distraction… so you wouldn't notice where you were standing." Shikamaru said.

"The winner is Nara Shikamaru!" Hayate said.

"Nice one, Shikamaru!" Ino yelled.

"Awesome!" Choji yelled.

"And the guy acts totally humble… man, that was cool!" Naruto said.

_'Hmph… And now it's just down to me._' Dosu thought.

_'The only ones who haven't competed yet are me, Hinata, Naruto, one of the Oto ninja… Choji, Neji and Lee, two of the Ryu-nins… and that guy from Suna… please don't let it be the sand guy…!'_ Kiba thought.

_'This year's rookies seem to be showing some promise, but…'_ Neji thought as he stared towards Hinata out of the corner of his eyes.

"Next up will be…" Hayate said just before the names came up.

**Uchiha Jiro**

**Vs**

**Rock Lee**

"My turn, eh?" Jiro said.

"Alright, Jiro! Good luck!" Shu said with a big grin as he hit his open palm onto Jiro's back, making said Ryu-nin fall over the railings and straight down to the floor below.

'_Well, he's Naruto's ancestor alright.'_ Kakashi thought.

"Look at this. It's another one of the Ryu ninja… This should be interesting." Temari said.

Jiro then got up on his feet and walked over to the middle of the room, where Hayate was standing.

"YOSH! Go, get 'im Lee!" Guy said as he gave a thumbs-up.

"Yes, Guy-sensei!" Lee yelled as he gave a salute.

"Oh, and Lee." Guy said.

"What is it, Guy-sensei?" Lee asked.

"From that sword of his, I suspect that he's a Kenjutsu user, so you should move quickly, and when you're not attacking him, keep your distance." Guy said.

"I see…" Lee said as he wrote down on a piece of paper.

"Stop taking notes! You won't have time to consult them in the heat of battle!" Guy said.

"I see…" Lee said.

'_I hope Lee-san will be all right…'_ Sakura thought.

"All right! Now go, Lee!" Guy said.

"Yes, sir!" Lee said as he hopped down.

"Hmph. I've wanted to find out what kind of abilities he's got." Sasuke said as he looked at Jiro.

"Alright, then. Begin!" Hayate said and the battle commenced.

Lee immediately went in for a punch, but Jiro dodged it before kicking his opponent away as he closed his eyes.

"Neo-Sharingan!" Jiro said as he opened his eyes to reveal two green and red Sharingan.

'_What the…? Those aren't the normal Sharingan!'_ Lee thought.

'_Hmmm… Neo-Sharingan, huh?'_ Kakashi thought.

"What happened to his eyes? They look like the Sharingan, but are different." Naruto said.

"Yeah, now that you mention it…" Sakura said.

"That's the Neo-Sharingan." Shu said, making the three Genin of team 7 look at him.

'_Neo-Sharingan…?'_ Neji thought as he stared towards them from the corner of his eyes.

"It's more powerful than an ordinary Sharingan, and comes with more abilities as well. Plus, it's perceptive powers are far more accurate, and it is said that if one unlocks the Neo-Sharingan, they can unlock the Mangekyo through hard work alone." Shu said and Sasuke's eyes widened at the last part.

'_Unlock… the Mangekyo through hard work alone?'_ He thought.

"What's… a Mangekyo?" Naruto asked as he tilted his head.

"It's the strongest known form of the Sharingan. Some of its abilities can cause blindness if used to many times, though." Bouquet said.

"So, how do you unlock the Neo-Sharingan?" Sasuke asked.

"That's something you'll have to find out on your own, I'm afraid." Shu said.

'_Great. The tablet at the Nakano Shrine didn't say anything about how to unlock it… Maybe I need the Mangekyo to read that part.'_ Sasuke thought.

Jiro went through several hand signs before closing his eyes and Lee took the opportunity to attack.

"Konoha Senpou!" He yelled as he attempted to roundhouse kick Jiro, but said Uchiha jumped over the kick and over Lee's head before kicking Lee in the head, using his heel, sending his opponent flying.

'_Nani…?'_ Lee thought as he placed his palm on the floor before planting his feet and skidding further away from Jiro before coming to a stop "How did you see my attack? You had your eyes closed."

"You shouldn't let appearances fool you, even though my eyes are closed, it doesn't mean that I can't see you." Jiro said before opening his eyes to reveal that they had gone pale, almost as though he was blind.

"Nani?" Lee said in shock.

"One of the powers of my eyes are to separate my vision from my eyes, so right now, I'm seeing you from two different angles. There's no way you can win." Jiro said before closing his eyes again.

"Two different angles?" Lee asked.

"Exactly. I do have two eyes after all." Jiro said before charging at Lee, but the Konoha-nin then jumped into the air and landed atop the statue that was in the room.

"Take them off, Lee!" Guy said as he gave his student a thumbs-up.

Lee then pulled down his leg-warmers to reveal weights and he took them off before pulling the leg warmers up and he stood up before letting go of the weights, and almost everyone's eyes widened when explosions formed as the weights hit the ground.

Lee then jumped down, faster than the eye could see before he appeared behind Jiro, and kicked and sent him flying with a roundhouse kick.

Jiro managed to regain balance in mid-air before landing on the floor, and seeing as though Lee was now as fast as he was, he returned his vision to his eyes before opening them. Lee then charged at Jiro and attempted to punch him, but Jiro ducked under to punch before delivering a roundhouse kick to Lee, sending him flying towards the wall, but the Konoha-nin regained his balance in mid-air and landed on the floor.

"Katon: Goukakyo no Jutsu!" Jiro called out as he fired a large fire ball of white flames that would make Sasuke's seem like a spark by comparison.

Using his great speed however, Lee managed to dodge the fire ball before thinking '_It seems he's pretty good art both Taijutsu and Ninjutsu. But why haven't he done any Kenjutsu yet?'_

"If you're wondering why I haven't used my sword yet, it's because you're not worth the effort." Jiro said as though he had read Lee's mind.

'_Nani? How could he know what I'm…'_ Lee thought.

"…Thinking?" Jiro finished for him and his eyes widened.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei. Isn't what Jiro-san's doing now, the same thing you did when you fought against Zabuza at Wave?" Sakura asked.

"Well, it's similar, but not quite." Kakashi answered.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"Unlike what Jiro-san's doing now, I didn't read Zabuza's mind." Kakashi said.

"It's quite simple really. Another power of the Neo-Sharingan is the ability to read one's mind. Though reading the mind of someone that has another being inside of them is impossible." Jiro said.

"I see." Lee said before looking up at Guy who was giving him an affirmative nod, and he then looked back at Jiro "Well, in that case, seems like I can't hold back any longer."

Lee then unwrapped the bandages around his arms before crossing said arms in front of his face as he ran in circles around the Ryu-nin. After about a minute, Lee then appeared in Jiro's face and kicked him in the jaw, sending him flying into the air as Lee jumped after.

Lee then appeared behind Jiro in mid-air before his bandages wrapped around the Ryu-nin, and both of them suddenly spun down towards the floor at an incredible speed.

"Omote Renge!" Lee called out before jumping away and as he landed, his eyes widened when Jiro stood back up.

"Well, I must admit that I didn't expect you to be wielding such a powerful technique." Jiro said before he noticed that Lee wobbled slightly "But it seems that it left you at a great disadvantage in the long-run."

Jiro then vanished before appearing in Lee's face and punched him into the wall. Afterwards he kicked him in the stomach, making him lean forward before Jiro elbowed him in the back of his neck. Lee then fell to the ground and attempted to stand up, but he was then kicked away by Jiro.

"Why doesn't Lee-san just duck?" Sakura asked.

"… The Renge techniques he just used… it's a double-edged sword." Guy said.

"Fundamentally, it's a forbidden move. Using that level of high-speed Taijutsu puts a huge strain on the body. Right now, Lee's nothing but a mass of pain and weakness… Isn't that right, Guy?" Kakashi said.

"B-but… that means…" Sakura said.

_'…Lee…'_ Guy thought as he recalled the first time he saw Lee.

Flashback

Lee, as well as the other kids in his class at the academy were currently running rounds outside the academy.

"Ha ha ha ha… you baka! There's no way you'll ever be a ninja!" One of the kids said.

"Yeah. How could someone who can't even use Ninjutsu hope to become a ninja?" Another one said.

"But… I will!" Lee retorted.

"You're not capable of anything but Taijutsu… and you're even mediocre at that! What were they thinking, letting you into the ninja academy?" Another kid said as Lee tried to ignore him "Heh… want to know what the other kids call you?"

"No!" Lee said as he put his hands over his ears before he ran off and the other kids started laughing.

"Lee! Get in line!" The teacher yelled after him as Guy looked down on the scene from a window.

"Heh heh… so that's the gaki they're all gossiping about… the little hot-head who couldn't!" He said.

Flashback end

_'But Lee… you took your mediocre skills in Taijutsu… and made exercise and practice your obsession, and then…'_ Guy thought as he recalled when Lee, Neji and Tenten first became Genin.

Flashback

"Now that you've officially become Genin… I want to hear all about your goals!" Guy said as he was standing in front of the three Genin.

"I don't want to say." Neji said.

"Well then…" Guy said.

"I want to become a strong kunoichi, like my idol, the legendary Tsunade-sama!" Tenten said.

"SENSEI!" Lee yelled as he raised his hand "I want to prove that even a person who can't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu… can still become a splendid ninja! It's my only goal!"

_'He's got good eyes…'_ Guy thought before Neji chuckled and Lee stood up while pointing an accusing finger at the Hyuga.

"HEY! What's so funny?" he yelled.

Flashback end

Guy then recalled one time he had seen the kid training.

Flashback

Lee was currently at one of the training fields, doing push-ups as Guy spied on him.

_'Okay… if 500 consecutive push-ups don't make me strong enough, then I'll do 1.200 double-skips with the jump-rope…'_ Lee thought and sure enough, just a little while later he was doing double-skips with the jump rope as he thought _'And if 1.200 double-skips don't do it, then I'll kick the wooden practice dummy 2.000 times!'_

_'… 1.116… 1.117… whoa!'_ Guy thought, but Lee suddenly tripped in the rope and fell head-first into the wooden practice dummy and as he hit the ground, he started crying.

"So, Lee… taking a break already?" Guy asked as he stepped out from behind the tree that he'd been hiding behind and Lee got up on his feet.

"Did you… need something, Guy-sensei? If it's about the blunder I made during our last mission, I thought I'd already made it up to you!" Lee said before he started kicking the wooden dummy.

"You know… you really are very different from Neji… you're no genius at Ninjutsu or Genjutsu… and you really aren't a Taijutsu virtuoso, either. Nevertheless, Lee… there's one area where you completely surpass Neji. You're a genius of another kind with great hidden potential." Guy said.

"You're just saying that to be nice!" Lee said as he continued kicking.

"I'm not trying to be nice. I'm just saying… that you are…" Guy said as Lee stopped kicking "… a genius of hard work."

"… Do you really… mean that? I-I've only been able to make it this far… by having faith that, if I trained two or three times as hard as Neji, I might finally beat him. I've always believed that. But… lately, I've started to feel that I had no hope… of ever measuring up to a true genius like Neji. I've wondered if it was possible for hard work alone to be rewarded… so I've kept challenging Neji… but the results have always been the same… I'm no match for him! And even now, on missions, my legs still tremble in fear… fear that no matter how hard I work, I'll never get stronger. It scares me so much I can't stand it. … I don't know what to do…" Lee said.

"All your hard work will prove worthless unless you believe in yourself!" Guy said.

Flashback end

_'Thank you… Guy-sensei…'_ Lee thought as he stood up while also having recalled it before he recalled another conversation he had had with his sensei.

Flashback

"You remind me of me… way back when I was a complete failure. Nowadays, in matches against that elite genius, Kakashi, we're nearly even! "I want to prove that even a person who can't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu can still become a splendid ninja!" That's your shinobi path, isn't it? It's a great goal… one that's really worth fighting for. It's the path you chose, so have faith and follow it! Become such a strong fighter that I can just sit back and enjoy the show! You got that, Lee?" Guy said as he patted the boy on the head.

"YES, SIR!" Lee exclaimed.

Flashback end

"Well, if you still want me to use the sword, fine. I'll use it to finish you off." Jiro said before he drew his sword "But before I end this, let me show you that even if you manage to keep your distance, you can't win." The sword was then suddenly covered in lightning "Only the most skilled of Kenjutsu masters can cover their sword in their natural chakra element, but I've taken it even further." He then swung his sword and a horizontal stream of lightning suddenly appeared on the wall before vanishing to reveal a horizontal crack where the stream of lightning had just been.

"Nani?" Lee said, surprised.

"As you can see, I'm not like any ordinary swordsman." Jiro said as he pointed his sword at Lee before swinging it, but – to almost everyone's surprise – he managed to dodge it just before a stream of lightning appeared on the wall behind him, leaving a diagonal crack.

_'He got his speed back!'_ Naruto thought.

_'Guy-sensei is sitting back and enjoying the show… just knowing that is enough to revive me…! … And to make me… stronger than ever!'_ Lee thought as he assumed his Taijutsu stance while smiling.

"Why is he smiling?" Sakura asked.

"He's about to start pushing back!" Guy said, catching the pinkette's attention "The lotus of Konoha… will bloom twice!"

"Impressive, but it ends here." Jiro said.

"Well, one way or another… the next move will be the last." Lee said.

_'The lotus of Konoha will bloom twice?'_ Kakashi thought as his visible eye widened before he said "Guy… don't tell me you…!"

"On the contrary. I did." Guy said.

"Then… that kid, who's just a Genin… is able to open the Hachimon…?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes… that's right." Guy said.

_'It's awful…'_ Kakashi thought.

"He has the talent…" Guy said.

"No matter how much talent he has, you taught him something horribly dangerous! The Ura Renge tops the list… of moves you shouldn't teach!" Kakashi yelled.

_'… Ura Renge…?'_ Neji thought.

"It's none of my business what that child means to you… and I'll spare us both the lecture about not being governed by your feelings… but you crossed a line on this! … You disappoint me, Guy!" Kakashi said.

"You… don't know the first thing about that kid…" Guy said as he remembered what Lee had said when he first became a Genin.

"I want to prove that even a person who can't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu… can still become a splendid ninja! It's my only goal!"

"That boy has something he values so deeply that he's willing to die for the sake of it. That's why I wanted to help him become someone who'd be able to stand up for his ideals. I had to." Guy said as Lee started to hold his arms in an X-shape in front of his face.

_'So he was able to bounce back from exhaustion with such abnormal speed because he'd forced open the Kyumon.'_ Kakashi thought before saying "So tell me, Guy… which of the Hachimon has he gotten up to so far?"

"The Tomon." Guy said and Kakashi's visible eye widened again.

_'That feat should be impossible to achieve through hard work alone… so… the boy's a genius after all.'_ Kakashi thought.

"Wh-what are you both talking about? You keep mentioning these… Hachimon?" Sakura asked.

"The Hachimon act as limiters that must be released in preparation for performing the Ura Renge." Guy explained.

"Limiters… released?" Sakura asked as Kakashi lifted his Hitai-ate to reveal his Sharingan.

"Yes…" He said

"At eight specific points along the Keirakukei there are places where the chakra nodes converge: The Kaimon, the Kyumon, the Seimon, the Shomon, the Tomon, the Keimon, the Kyomon and the Shimon. Those are called the Hachimon… they constantly maintain limits on the amount of chakra flowing through the body… limits that the Renge uses chakra to forcibly override… enabling the user to draw upon strength that is dozens of times his usual level… even if the user's body is destroyed in the process. Incidentally, the Omote Renge opens only the Kaimon." Guy explained.

"And… the Ura Renge?" Sakura asked.

"Opening the Kaimon frees the user from his own mental inhibitions. The opening of the Kyumon boosts his strength… and with the opening of the Seimon, one can begin the Ura Renge…" Guy said.

"But… the Omote Renge alone got him so beat up… if he tries to perform anymore moves…" Sakura said.

"That's right… this technique is a double-edged sword. The state where all the Hachimon have been opened is called the "Hachimon Tonko no Jin"… and anyone who achieves that state will – however briefly – be granted strength that surpasses even the Hokage's. But in exchange… that person will inevitably die!" Kakashi said.

_'… Neji… Sasuke… and even…'_ Lee thought as he thought of the three people that he wanted to fight the most, Neji, Sasuke and Naruto _'I will not be… the only one who fails! Guy-sensei… please… notice me… now, of all times… now, when I finally attain… my shinobi path!'_ Suddenly, his skin turned red as small rocks started floating around him and his hair stood up "Seimon… KAI!"

_'The color of his skin…!'_ Sakura thought.

'… _It's red?'_ Naruto thought.

_'He opened the Seimon… he's going to make his move!'_ Kakashi thought.

_'And, while I'm at it… Shomon… KAI!' _Lee thought as all of his muscles tensed and a small trail of blood came out of his nose.

'_Hachimon… I see. You're far more skilled than any mere Genin. You would really deserve the rank of Chunin.'_ Jiro thought.

'_He's quite something…'_ Kakashi thought before Lee charged at Jiro.

'_If he's planning what I think he's planning, then I've got no choice.'_ Jiro thought as he sheathed his sword and closed his eyes just before Lee kicked him up, into the air.

'_He's fast.'_ Kakashi said.

"What the…? Where did he go?" Naruto asked.

"Up there!" Sasuke said as he pointed up.

"But what about Lee-san? I don't see him anywhere!" Sakura said.

Lee suddenly appeared in front of Jiro and punched him, making the Ryu-nin fly towards the wall, but then the Konoha-nin appeared behind him and punched him again. It went on like that for several minutes as both ninja went through unbelievable pain.

_'His muscles have torn… If this goes any further…'_ Kakashi thought.

_'But… it's only Lee! How did he get so…?'_ Neji thought as he had activated the Byakugan.

"This is the end! Tomon… KAI!" Lee yelled.

_'Hey, Neji! This is a move I was keeping in reserve to use against you, but… I'll give you a sneak preview!'_ Lee thought before he punched Jiro in the stomach, sending him towards the floor. But Lee had managed to wrap some of the bandages on his left arm around Jiro's waist, stopping him from hitting the floor.

_'The Ura Renge… a series of Taijutsu performed with such speed that the attacker is untouchable! These rapid moves are Lee's key to winning the match…!'_ Guy thought.

_'This is the finale!'_ Lee thought before he pulled the bandages and Jiro was pulled towards him. Lee then thrusted his right hand and right foot into Jiro's stomach while yelling "Ura Renge!" And the Ryu-nin shot towards the floor and impacted with it with such force that a tremendous shockwave almost blew everyone off their feet.

_'It's so fast, you can't even see…'_ Shikamaru thought.

Lee landed on the floor, hard, obviously too exhausted to continue fighting. However, as the dust cloud that was formed from the impact cleared, almost everyone's eyes widened as Jiro rose to his feet, but this isn't what caught everyone's attention the most, but the fact that he was surrounded by what looked like someone's or something's ribs, said ribs being green too.

"That was a close one. If it hadn't been for this, even I wouldn't have survived that." Jiro said as the ribs vanished "But that technique put quite a strain on your body, and you likely won't be able to even throw a simply punch or kick for several days to come… this battle is over." Jiro then walked towards the stairs up to the upper gallery.

"Since Rock Lee is no longer able to fight, the winner is Uchiha Jiro!" Hayate announced as Guy jumped down to check on Lee as a team of medics came.

"Those Ryugakure shinobi are really something." Kankuro said.

"Yeah, I think even Gaara would've had trouble with beating that kid, but Jiro's just walking away as though his strength didn't face him at all." Temari said.

'_He's strong… So strong…'_ Gaara thought as he shivered with excitement… if his battle wasn't soon, then he'd start going on a rampage.

"You didn't have to go all out like that." Shu said as Jiro approached them.

"Who said I went all out? I didn't even summon Minotaur." Jiro said as Guy came back.

"All right, the next battle is between…" Hayate said before the next two names came up.

**Uzumaki Naruto**

**Vs**

**Inuzuka Kiba**

"Well, it's about time! Thanks for being patient, everyone! I'm gonna make this worth your wait!" Naruto yelled.

"Oh, yes! Thank you! Thank you! We can take this guy, Akamaru!" Kiba yelled and Akamaru let out a bark.

"Hey, Shu-san. Since Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan summoned their Shadows, would it be okay if…?" Naruto asked as he looked at Shu.

"Sure, I don't see why not. Besides, it kinda became pointless hiding them after Sasuke summoned his." Shu said.

"Thanks." Naruto said before jumping over the railing and landing on the floor below. And shortly after, both he and Kiba were standing in the middle of the room.

"The ninth round battle! Uzumaki Naruto versus Inuzuka Kiba!" Hayate said.

"Woo-hoo! We lucked out, Akamaru! This fight is as good as won!" Kiba yelled and Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Don't be so cocky, you jerk!" Naruto yelled before pointing at Akamaru "Hey, Kiba! Send your little puppy dog home! C'mon… he'll get in our way!"

"Whatever! Akamaru fights with me, like always." Kiba said as he put the mutt down on the floor as said mutt barked.

"Naruto! Don't you dare let that loser beat you!" Sakura yelled.

"Yeah, show him that you're no longer as weak as you used to be." Sasuke said.

_'… At last, here goes…'_ Kakashi thought.

_'Naruto, huh? Tough break, Kakashi. There's no way your boy can beat Kiba!'_ Kurenai thought.

_'I-I wish I could cheer for Naruto-kun… but Kiba-kun is my teammate, and I don't want to upset him! But…' _Hinata thought.

"Don't worry, I'll be kind… I'll finish you off fast instead of dragging it out." Kiba said.

"Oh, yeah…? Well… right back atcha!" Naruto said.

"You're not fooling anyone with that cool act." Kiba said and Akamaru barked.

"Well then… BEGIN!" Hayate said.

"Ninpou: Shikyaku no Jutsu." Kiba said before he got a slightly more feral appearance as he got down on all four "Here I come…"

Kiba then charged at Naruto faster than most of the Genin in the room could see, and before anyone knew what had happened, Naruto was sent flying into the wall.

"He's down for the count already, sir." Kiba said.

'_See…'_ Kurenai thought.

"He's such a wimp." Kankuro said.

'_Poor Naruto-kun.'_ Hinata thought.

"Well, that was over quicker than I had expected. Tell me, what have the two of you even been doing all this time, Shu?" Jiro asked and Shu looked at him and just smiled.

"Oh, it's not over yet." He said.

Naruto then – to almost everyone's surprise – rose up on his feet.

"Nani…?" Kiba said shocked.

"Don't… underestimate me!" Naruto said.

"GO! NARUTO!" Sakura yelled.

"Way to go, dobe!" Sasuke said.

_'Oh, Naruto-kun!'_ Hinata thought.

"You talk pretty tough for someone who's bleeding all over the place. Would you just surrender already?" Kiba asked as Akamaru barked.

"Don't you get it? I let you pound me… so I could find out what you're made off. You're so high on yourself… You just go and fight me alone, or with your dog, or any other way you want." Naruto said.

"You'll be sorry." Kiba said before charging at Naruto while yelling "Get him, Akamaru!"

He then threw a couple of smoke bombs down on the floor and Akamaru jumped into the smoke cloud, but to Kiba's surprise, the mutt was sent flying out of the cloud before landing on his feet and skidding to a halt.

"**Really, Naruto? This is what you summon me for? A sorry excuse for a ninja and his mutt?"** A voice came out of the smoke cloud.

"Sorry, Blue Dragon. But they're a little tougher than they look… only a little though." Naruto said as the smoke cloud cleared to reveal that Blue Dragon was coming out of the floor behind him.

"I guess you've gotten stronger, eh…? So this time, I'm not holding back" Kiba said.

"Oh, yeah? Then… right back atcha!" Naruto said.

Kiba then pulled out a food-pill before giving it to Akamaru and said mutt's fur suddenly turned red.

"His fur… it turned red! Wh-what the heck are you feeding that dog?" Naruto asked.

"His name is Akamaru. It means "red", you dobe." Kiba said as he took a food-pill as well.

"Jujin Bunshin!" He called out before he got a more feral look and Akamaru turned into an exact copy of him. The two Kibas then charged at Naruto as the real one called out "Shikyaku no Jutsu!"

They then came down, towards the blond before attempting to punch him, but they only hit the floor as Naruto had jumped up into the air and landed on Blue Dragon's back.

"Wind!" Naruto called out and Blue Dragon flapped his wings, creating a powerful gust of wind which blew Kiba and Akamaru backwards. But then the two of them charged at Naruto again before they started spinning.

"Gatsuuga!" Kiba called out as he and Akamaru shot towards the blond and the dragon.

Blue Dragon then flew up where Kiba couldn't reach them before – on Naruto's command – his right hand was engulfed in a blade of wind. They then charged down towards Kiba and his dog.

The Wind Sword then impacted with the two, sending them flying into the wall. Akamaru had been knocked out by it, but Kiba managed to stand up before looking at his injured dog and then over at Naruto.

"You'll pay for that! Tsuuga!" He then spun towards Naruto like a drill, but the blond – or rather, Blue Dragon – dodged it.

Kiba then stopped spinning and skidded along the floor before spinning towards the blond and his Shadow again, and this time he hit Naruto and slammed him into the wall before landing on the floor as the Jinchuriki fell down.

"This perfectly illustrates the difference between our levels of strength…" Kiba said.

"I-I'm gonna… be the Hokage. … I won't… lose… now…" Naruto said.

"You, Hokage? You can't even beat me! No one's deluded enough to think you really have what it takes to become Hokage… not even you! Tell you what, though… I'll become Hokage in your place!" Kiba yelled and Blue Dragon leaned down to Naruto's head, which was face-down in the floor.

"**You know, gaki, he does have a point there."** He said.

"Shut up." Naruto said before rising to his feet before saying "If you try to come between me… and the title of Hokage… you'll whimper… like a whipped dog."

"Geez… You're a stubborn one, aren't you?" Kiba said before he charged at the blond.

"Ready, Blue Dragon?" Naruto asked.

"**Ready as I'll ever be."** Blue Dragon said.

"Tsuuga!" Kiba called out as he started spinning towards Naruto, but the blond then dodged the attack before weaving a series of hand signs.

"Futon: Kamikaze no Jutsu!" He called out as he blew a powerful gust of wind towards Kiba, cutting up his jacket slightly before sending him flying towards the wall.

"Wind Sword!" Blue Dragon then swung the sword of wind down on Kiba, sending him to the floor, nearly unconscious, and Hayate went to examine him.

"And the winner is Uzumaki Naruto!" He announced.

"Oh, yeah! That feels good!" Sakura yelled.

"Incredible! Naruto beat Kiba!" Shikamaru said.

_'… Yes!'_ Hinata thought.

'_Heh… Way to go, Naruto.'_ Sasuke thought.

'… _I… I have. I've gotten stronger…!'_ Naruto thought as he looked down at his fist and recalled Blue Dragon before walking up the stairs.

_'… Sh-should I…? Shouldn't I...?'_ Hinata thought as Naruto walked passed her.

"… N-Naruto-kun…" Naruto turned around and Hinata held up an ointment.

_'… Hinata…!'_ Kurenai thought.

"… What's this stuff?" Naruto asked.

"… An ointment… for wounds." Kurenai said.

"For me…? Why…?" Naruto asked.

"Just take it from her, Naruto." Kurenai said.

"Uh… okay! Thanks." Naruto said as he took the ointment before walking back to where team 7, team Guy and team Shu were standing.

_'Don't feel ashamed, Kiba. It turns out you fought a worthy opponent after all!'_ Kurenai thought.

_'Well, aren't you looking carefree… Hinata-sama?'_ Neji thought as he glared towards Hinata from the corner of his eye.

Hinata then walked down the stairs and towards some medics who were carrying Kiba and Akamaru away.

"Uh… um… Th-this is a healing salve… for Kiba-kun… and Akamaru-kun…" Hinata said as she held out another ointment.

"Nice of you to worry about everyone else… but save some of that concern for yourself! There are only six of you left… you, Choji, Neji, one of the Oto ninja, one of the Ryu ninja… and that guy from Suna. Listen, Hinata... If they pair you off against that Suna ninja… withdraw immediately! And not just him! The same goes for Neji. If you have to face him, don't fight. Forfeit. He's so cruel to you… you'd be torn to pieces… Oh, And you should probably do the same if you're paired against that last Ryu-nin, after seeing what his teammates are capable of, I don't think you'd stand much of a chance." Kiba said.

"Well then… the next match will be… cough." Hayate said just before the next two names showed on the score-board and Hinata's eyes widened.

**Hyuga Hinata**

**Vs**

**Hyuga Neji**

_'Hinata…'_ Kurenai thought.

_'These contests get more and more intriguing…'_ Hiruzen thought, and shortly after were Hinata and Neji standing in front of each other in the middle of the room.

"I never dreamed we'd find ourselves fighting each other… Hinata-sama." Neji said.

"… Neji… onii-san…" Hinata stuttered.

"Huh? She's his sister?" Naruto asked.

"… Both are members of Konoha's oldest and most illustrious family, through whose veins flows the most elite and accomplished blood… the Hyuga clan. But they're not brother and sister…" Kakashi explained.

"Then… how are they related?" Sakura asked.

"Well… it's complicated… I guess you could say they're related in the same way… that a tree branch is related to the trunk." Kakashi said.

"Branch and trunk…?" Naruto asked.

"Hinata is a member of the main branch of the Hyuga clan… and Neji is a member of the cadet branch that supports it." Guy explained.

"… So it's family fighting family? That'll be hard on both of them." Sakura said.

"Yes… except…" Guy said.

"What…?" Sakura asked.

"There's been strain between the central and cadet branches of clan Hyuga for some time… relations aren't exactly friendly." Guy said.

"Hmm… Why's that?" Naruto asked.

"It's a pretty common tale among older families. The first generation of the Hyuga clan… made all sorts of rules and degrees that favored the main branch of the family in order to preserve the family line and retain the purity of their blood. It's said that members of the cadet branch still burn with anger and humiliation." Guy explained.

"So it's one of those fateful showdown things, then…" Sakura said.

"Well… please begin the match! Cough." Hayate said.

"Before we begin… there's something I have to point out to Hinata-sama." Neji said, catching the blunette's attention "You're not cut out to be a shinobi. Withdraw from the match! You're all sweetness and light… a peacemaker, not a troublemaker. You're easily led, not a leader. And you have no self-confidence. You've got a world-class inferiority complex… so I know you'd have been more comfortable and content staying at the Genin level. But applicants for the Chunin exams must compete as a trio… and you couldn't bear to let your teammates down. The truth is, your participation has been reluctant from the start… hasn't it?"

"… N-no… you're wrong. I-I really… wanted to change that about myself. So, of my own volition, I…" Hinata said.

"Hinata-sama… you're the sheltered little baby of the main branch, aren't you?" Neji asked.

"What?" Hinata asked.

"A leopard doesn't change its spots. A failure always fails. And a weak personality won't become strong." Neji said.

_'That jerk…!'_ Naruto thought.

"It's precisely because of the unchanging nature of humankind that differences between people are born… it's why we've coined terms like "elite" and "failure". It doesn't matter who you are. We're all judged on the basis of our looks, our intelligence, our talent, or our personalities… just as we judge others in their turn. Yes, it's a form of discrimination. And the factors that it's based on don't change. We have no choice… we must live within the boundaries set for us by the judgments of others. It's as unchangeable as the fact that I'm of the cadet branch of the family… and you're a member of the main branch. I've seen through many things with this Byakugan… and so I know… this courage you're displaying is just a bluff! In the truest, deepest part of your heart, you're desperate to run away from here right now." Neji said.

"N-no… I really want to…" Hinata said.

"The Byakugan…?" Sakura asked as she looked at Kakashi.

"The Byakugan is one of the Kekkei Genkai passed down in the Hyuga family… a Dojutsu in some ways similar to the Sharingan. But – unlike the Sharingan – it is said that the Byakugan can see a person's Keirakukei." Sasuke explained in Kakashi's stead.

Neji then activated his eyes and Hinata – in an attempt to escape Neji's stare – averted her eyes towards the upper left before glancing to the lower right as she held her hands in front of her.

"My eyes can't be deceived. Just now, to escape my stare… you averted your own eyes… glancing towards the upper left. It signaled your recall of a past experience… one that brought you pain. When you subsequently glanced to the lower right, it indicated that you were envisioning physical and mental agony. In other words… you recalled your own previous experiences, and based upon those memories… you imagined the outcome of this match. You foresaw… your own defeat! Even now, as you bring your arms up in front of your body as if to shield yourself… your body is signaling your desire to raise a wall between us…to create some distance from me. you implore me to come no further, to peer no more deeply into the innermost secrets of your heart… because everything I have said so far has been right on target! In addition… the way you're touching your lip… it's another of those tender, intimate behaviors that expresses the agitation in your heart. It's a defensive reflex… an attempt to ease your own anxieties and doubts… it's completely clear… whether you admit it or not, that you are aware… that you can never change yourself!" Neji said.

"Yes, she can!" Naruto yelled as he had had enough of what Neji was saying "You can't just arbitrarily decide these things about other people, you fool! Show him, Hinata! Beat up this baka!"

_'… Naruto-kun…' _Hinata thought.

"Come on, Hinata. At least talk to him! Just hearing him has made me mad, and it's you who has to fight him!" Naruto yelled.

_'Naruto-kun…'_ Hinata thought.

_'He's so annoying…!'_ Neji thought.

_'… Thank you.'_ Hinata thought as she stared at Neji with new-found confidence.

_'The look in her eyes is different now…'_ Neji thought before saying "So you're not going to withdraw…? Then I won't be responsible for what happens here."

Hinata then thought back to what Naruto had said at the end of the first exam.

"I don't quit, and I won't run!"

"I never go back on my word. That's my nindo"

_'I… I don't want to run anymore! Byakugan.'_ Hinata thought as she activated her eyes before she assumed the Juken stance while saying "Neji-onii-san… let's fight."

"Okay then…" Neji said as he assumed the same stance.

"They have the same Hyuga style, after all… even her stance is identical to Neji's." Guy said.

"… Hyuga style?" Sakura asked.

"It's the strongest school of Taijutsu in Konoha!" Guy said.

Hinata and Neji then charged at each other and Hinata went on the offensive, delivering several palm strikes, but Neji blocked all of them.

_'Here it is…!'_ Hinata thought when she saw an opening and she quickly delivered a palm strike to Neji's stomach.

"Did she get him?" Sakura asked.

"No… It's just a scratch!" Naruto said.

"A scratch is all it would take. That's why the Hyuga clan is often regarded as Konoha's most illustrious family." Guy said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"… Among the Hyuga, there are unique Taijutsu passed down from one generation to the next! Unlike the Taijutsu that Lee and I specialize in, which is all about beatings, bruises and broken bones, a style its proponents call Goken. The Hyuga clan employs Juken, to inflict damage to the enemy's Keirakukei, through which the chakra flows. That leads to the breakdown of the internal organs, destroying the foe from within. It doesn't look like much, but… the effect grows gradually after the initial attack." Guy explained.

"There's no way of strengthening the internal organs, so… any enemy struck with that blow is going to succumb!" Kakashi said.

_'Yes, even I can...'_ Hinata thought as she directed a blow from Neji, away from her before delivering another palm strike to him.

_'Hinata-san's pushing him…!'_ Shino thought.

_'… Hinata…'_ Kurenai thought.

"YEAH, HINATA!" Naruto cheered.

"What kind of people are they… to attack the Keirakukei? It doesn't seem possible! I mean, the Keirakukei is just energy lines inside the body… so how do you attack something you can't see?" Sakura asked.

"They can. It's like Sasuke said before, the Byakugan can see them. And Juken attacks are different from the purely brute-force, physical kind. You take your own chakra and release it through the energy portals in your hands, forcing it into the body of your foe… where it can inflict massive damage on the enemy's Keirakukei." Kakashi said as Hinata delivered another palm strike to Neji's body.

"ALL RIGHT!" Naruto exclaimed.

_'Did she get him…?'_ Shino thought.

Suddenly Hinata coughed up blood as Neji had hit her in the chest while he had the index and middle finger on his other hand stabbed at Hinata's arm.

"… So this is the full extent… of the main branch's strength?" Neji asked.

"Hey! What the heck? What about Hinata's attack?" Naruto yelled.

_'N-not yet…'_ Hinata thought before she attempted a palm strike to Neji's face, but the Hyuga prodigy grabbed Hinata's wrist with his left hand before hitting the index and middle finger on his right hand at Hinata's arm.

_'… What a fighter!'_ Kakashi thought.

_'D-don't tell me…'_ Kurenai thought.

_'My, my… It seems those who've called him the greatest genius in Hyuga clan history haven't overstated the case.'_ Hiruzen thought.

Neji then pushed Hinata's sleeve up her arm to reveal several black dots.

"… It can't be! You mean… from the very beginning…?" Hinata asked.

"Precisely… my eyes can detect the Tenketsu!" Neji said before delivering a palm strike which sent Hinata skidding along the floor "Hinata-sama… this is the unalterable difference in strength… the distinction that separates the elite from the failure. This is the unchangeable reality. From the moment you said you wouldn't run, your defeat was inevitable. The only possible outcome was your present despair. … Withdraw!"

"… I… n-never… go back… on my word…" Hinata said as she got up on her feet.

_'Hinata…'_ Naruto thought.

"Because… that's… my nindo, too…!" Hinata said.

"Whoa! Hinata… man, she's got guts!" Naruto said.

"She's a lot like you…" Shu said.

"Yeah… I've noticed that she's always watching you, Naruto…" Sakura said and Bouquet frowned.

"Come here…" Neji said, but suddenly Hinata coughed up more blood.

_'That kid is really at her limit… one more attack and she'll…!'_ Kurenai thought.

"Neji's strikes on her Tenketsu have completely arrested her flow of chakra. She's lost the capacity to perform the Juken attacks that flood her chakra into her opponent's body. This fight is as good as done." Kakashi said.

_'It seems inevitable. Neji will win.'_ Guy thought.

"Those eyes… so creepy! Hinata… she won't get killed, will she…?" Ino asked.

"His level of strength… it… it's not a fair fight! He's just too strong…" Sakura said.

"Hang in there, Hinata!" Naruto yelled.

_'… Naruto-kun…!'_ Hinata thought before she looked at Neji.

_'The look of strength is back in her eyes…'_ Neji thought as Hinata charged at him.

_'I've been watching…'_ Hinata thought as she and Neji once again began to trade blows as she continued thinking _'I've watched you for years! Why is that…? I don't know what it is, but… when I watch Naruto-kun… I feel a wellspring of courage bubbling up inside of me. I feel like if I just do my best… then even I… am worth something! That's how I start to feel!'_

Hinata then moved in for a palm strike, but Neji brought his left hand down in a chopping-motion and diverted Hinata's attack before he hit her in the face and sent her skidding a few feet back.

"… Hinata…" Kurenai said before _thinking '… You always had a habit of quitting… but at some point, you started trying to change. You trained constantly… desperately… but on missions, you were always full of mistakes. You faltered. You were weak. And you never had faith in yourself. But that's no longer true… the Hinata I see now… has a look in her eyes… unlike anything I've ever seen!'_ Kurenai thought before Hinata again charged at Neji.

_'… Naruto-kun! … I've been watching you for such a long time… but now, at last… you're watching me!'_ Hinata thought as she ran towards Neji, but Neji struck her before she could strike him and she collapsed down on the floor.

"Don't you know when to quit? From the start, your attacks have been completely ineffective!" Neji said.

_'Please, Hinata… call this off. You have lost the match, but you've succeeded in changing yourself! You did a great job!'_ Kurenai thought.

"That was Neji's master-stroke. It targets the heart. It's a pity, but the girl can no longer even stand…" Guy said.

"Seeing as the match cannot go on, I…" Hayate started, but Naruto cut him off.

"DON'T STOP IT!" He yelled.

"What are you talking about, you baka? She's got nothing left! She's already collapsed!" Sakura yelled, but suddenly, Hinata managed to climb up on her feet.

"… Why are you getting up? If you push too far, you really will die…" Neji said.

_'… It's because now the person I've admired for so long… is finally watching me, and… and in front of him… I can't bear to look uncool!' _Hinata thought as she looked at Neji before she said "Th-this isn't over yet!"

"You're not fooling anyone. I can see with these eyes… it's taking all your strength just to stand! You were burdened from birth with the Hyuga clan's main branch… you've hated and punished yourself for your own weakness and frailty… but you can't fight your nature… or change your fate. But you need not suffer any more. Be at peace!" Neji said.

"But… you're wrong, Neji-onii-san… I can see it now… that even more than me… it's you who are torn and suffering… caught between the destinies of the main branch and cadet branch of our clan!" Hinata said before Neji suddenly charged at her.

"Neji… the match is already over!" Hayate yelled as he and several of the other Konoha Jonin were about to stop the Hyuga prodigy, but before they could react, Hinata was suddenly enshrouded in a purple aura before a Hippopotamus Shadow suddenly rose out of the floor behind her.

'_Nani?'_ Neji thought as he stopped running, but then he thought '_That thing won't be able to help her now, anyway.'_ He then resumed charging at Hinata, but Shu then quickly created a Dragon Scale and threw it towards Neji, hitting him in the neck.

Neji then stopped as he felt a sting of pain in his neck and he brought his right hand up to where the Dragon Scale was.

"Didn't you hear Hayate-san? The match is over." Shu said.

"Tch." Neji was then about to return up to the upper gallery, but just then, Hippopotamus went back into the floor and Hinata collapsed down on the floor.

"Huh? Hey, what happened?" Naruto asked.

"It was the shock of awakening her Shadow." Shu said before looking at the blond "The same thing happened to you and your teammates."

"The shock of awakening her Shadow? What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"You know the Hachimon, right?" Shu asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" Sakura asked.

"What most people aren't aware of is that there aren't only 8 inner gates, but 9." Jiro said.

"What do you mean? What happens if you open the ninth gate?" Naruto asked.

"Well, you know how behind every one of the gates are large amounts of power, right?" Shu asked and the others nodded before he continued "Behind the ninth gate, that's where your Shadow is located before you awaken it."

"What? Really?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, but in order to open the ninth gate, you must first open the eight gate, and if you do that, you die." Shu said.

"Then how do you open the ninth gate?" Sakura asked.

"A long time ago, a way was discovered in which you could bypass the other eight gates and just open the ninth one. What you need is an external source of power, like a curse mark, for example." Shu said as he made a gesture to Sasuke and said Uchiha brought his hand over his curse mark.

"But wait. What about me, Sakura-chan and Hinata? I'm pretty sure that none of us awakened our Shadows that way." Naruto said.

"You're forgetting that you're all of the "Seven Soldiers of Light". You've got the ability to awaken your Shadows in your blood." Jiro said.

"Hmmm. I see…" Naruto said.

"Yeah, but both known ways of unlocking your Shadows has a major downside." Bouquet said.

"And what's that?" Sasuke asked.

"Since you're not opening any of the other Hachimon, you won't receive any enormous power-up." Shu said.

Hinata was then carried away by some medics as Neji walked up the stairs and towards his sensei. Shu then walked over to him before removing the Dragon Scale as the Hyuga prodigy looked towards Naruto.

"Hey… hey, you! Mr. Failure!" He said, catching the blond's attention "A couple of words of advice. A true shinobi would have too much class to make a spectacle of himself by cheering during a serious match. And one more thing… you may as well accept who you are. Once a failure, always a failure!"

"You wanna try me?" Naruto asked, but Shu then put his hand on his shoulder.

"Save that for the third exam." He said.

"Hey. Where'd Bouquet go?" Sakura asked as she looked around.

"She left, saying something about visiting the Hyuga estate." Logi said.

"Huh? The Hyuga estate?" Naruto and Sakura asked as they looked at eachother with confused looks.

Hinata's mindscape

Hinata was sitting curled up on her bed in the Hyuga estate as she thought back on the battle she'd just been in.

"You seem used to this place." Hinata immediately looked up and towards where the voice came from to see Bouquet.

"You're…" She said.

"Names Ra Bouquet." Bouquet said before looking around "So I suppose that this is where you run off to when you want to be alone, huh? Well, it's the first time I've seen someone finding their way to their mindscape before awakening their Shadow… unless they're a Jinchuriki that is."

"… Shadow…?" Hinata asked.

Forest of Death, tower, arena

**Akimichi Choji**

**Vs**

**Dosu Kinuta**

"Looks like I'm last…" Dosu said before thinking _'In any case, I've got to make it to the finals and fight Sasuke… otherwise I'll fail to meet your expectations Orochimaru-sama. I think I finally understand what you were up to… when you hunted down Sasuke in the forest and – instead of killing him – placed your curse mark… the three of us served as your guinea pigs. You sent us after Sasuke with assassination orders… but really you just intended for us to fight him… to test his abilities and experience them firsthand. What you want is not Sasuke's life, but Sasuke himself…'_

"You've been toying with me, too…" He said as he jumped down and appeared in front of Choji, who had already walked down there.

"Uh… Well… let the 11th round battle begin!" Hayate said.

"Go get him!" Shikamaru yelled.

"You can do it, fatso!" Ino cheered.

"Ugh…! Shut your mouth and keep your eyes open! I'm gonna end this match fast so I can come beat you up!" Choji yelled.

"… Well then… I'll dispense with the games and quickly finish it for you, fatso!" Dosu said.

This battle was the shortest so far in the entire Exam, Choji used the combination of Baika and Nikudan Sensha. But Dosu easily managed to dodge it before Choji rammed straight into the wall and when he stopped to roll the other way, Dosu hit him with his amplifier and since over 70% of the human body consists of water, Choji was knocked unconscious.

"We have a winner! Dosu Kinuta!" Hayate announced.

_'Orochimaru-sama… or rather… Orochimaru… I'll show you… I'm not just your guinea pig!' _Dosu thought.

"Hey, are you all right?" A medic-nin that was crouched next to Choji asked.

"I… I want… to eat meat…" Choji said.

"He even went easy on him…" Shikamaru said.

"Well… he lost, but I guess I'll still take him out for barbecue." Asuma said, having promised the Akimichi to take him out for barbeque if he won.

**Namikaze Shu**

**Vs**

**Gaara**

"Seems like it's my turn." Shu said before Gaara appeared in a swirl of sand in the middle of the room.

"Don't keep me waiting." He said as he stared up towards Shu who then smiled before suddenly vanishing and appearing in front of him.

"I hope you're ready." Shu said.

'_Heh. He's the one who would need to be ready here.'_ Kankuro thought.

"All right… It's the finale, the 12th round battle between Namikaze Shu and Gaara." Hayate said before there was a short pause and he continued "Begin!"

"Before we start, I would like to say something." Shu said.

"What is it?" Gaara asked.

"You know what they say, "Knowledge is power" and unfortunately for you I already know everything about you, Sabaku no Gaara, son of the Yondaime Kazekage and Jinchuriki of Shukaku no Ichibi." Shu said and almost everyone's eyes widened.

"What the…? He's a Jinchuriki?" Naruto asked before thinking '_Just like me…'_

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei. What's a Jinchuriki?" Sakura asked as she looked at Kakashi.

"Well, Sakura… How should I say this? A Jinchuriki is what we call a human who has a demon sealed inside of him." Kakashi said.

"A human who has a demon sealed inside of him? Is something like that even possible?" Sakura asked.

"More possible than you think…" Kakashi said as he stared at Naruto.

How could he possibly know that?" Kankuro asked.

"I don't know, but I've got a bad feeling about this." Temari said.

"Was that all?" Gaara asked as though he hadn't been surprised that Shu knew he was a Jinchuriki at all. Well, either that or he just didn't care.

"Yeah. That was all." Shu said.

"Good." Gaara simply said before the cork on his gourd suddenly shot out before sand emerged from the gourd. The sand then lashed out at Shu, but the Ryu-nin dodged it before weaving a series of hand signs.

"Futon: Ryukaze!" Suddenly a dragon head of wind came out of Shu's body and went straight for Gaara, but the sand protected the Jinchuriki like a shield '_Thought so. The sand will just keep on protecting him like that. It's why he's never sustained any injury before. Luckily I know exactly how to get around that shield.'_

"Is that all you've got? Pathetic." Gaara said.

"Sorry, but that's not even close." Shu said as he rubbed his index finger under his nose before continuing "But if you want me to take you more seriously, all right."

Shu was then enshrouded in a blue aura before Blue Dragon rose up from the floor, however, this Blue Dragon was at least twice the size of Naruto's.

"**Well, this is unusual. Summoning me two times a week. Now-a-days it's rare for me to even be summoned two times a month."** Blue Dragon said.

"Sorry, Blue. But it seemed like this guy wanted me to get more serious." Shu said.

"Whoa. I didn't know Shu-san's Blue Dragon was so big." Naruto said.

"Huh? What are you talking about? Didn't you say that he was the one who had trained you?" Sakura asked.

"Well, yes. But he never summoned his Shadow during our training. And even when we sparred, he just said that he didn't need to, and he even beat me every time. I couldn't even land a single hit." Naruto said.

"You couldn't even land one hit? If you hadn't had gotten any stronger since our academy days, I wouldn't have been surprised, but…" Sasuke said before thinking '_Naruto's nothing like what he was back at the academy… even I have to admit that. So, if Shu beat him so easily, then how powerful can he be?'_

"Alright, Blue, let's do this! Firus!" Shu exclaimed before Blue Dragon fired a powerful wave of fire towards Gaara as the sand shield moved in to protect him.

"Pathetic." Gaara said before the fire hit the shield, but Gaara's eyes widened when his sand was turned into glass.

Shu then ran towards him, before punching the glass, shattering it on impact before he punched Gaara in the gut and sent him flying straight into the wall.

"What… just happened?" Kankuro asked.

"How did the sand turn into glass?" Naruto asked.

"Well, you see Naruto. When sand is exposed to a large amount of heat which goes beyond a certain temperature, it turns to glass. Shu-san likely knew this and decided to use the knowledge to his advantage." Kakashi explained.

"Wow. He really does know everything about Gaara." Sakura said.

As the dust cloud that was formed from the impact cleared, it could be seen that Gaara had cracks all over his body and suddenly some pieces fell off from around where Shu had hit him to reveal that he was wearing an armor of sand.

'_He mummified himself in sand…! The punch barely touched him.'_ Kakashi thought.

_'He was wearing the sand like a shell, eh…? Hmm…It's been quite some time since I saw that expression on his face… he's usually as composed as a statue, the picture of politeness and decorum. I had sensed that – during the Chunin examination – he was becoming more and more unstable… but… the other Gaara… is now totally awake…!'_ Kankuro thought before saying "Heh. If this Gaara is able to catch Shu… Shu will be toyed with and then killed."

The sand then rose up and covered Gaara to reform the armor.

'_An armor of sand, eh?'_ Shu thought before a sword of fire appeared around Blue Dragon's hand. Shu then swung his arm down, making his Shadow do the same and Gaara barely managed to dodge it before sending a wave of sand towards Shu.

Shu dodged the sand however and cupped his hands at his side before saying "Blue Explosion!" He then thrusted his arms forward as Blue Dragon fired off a powerful blue wave of fire.

Before Gaara could even realize what happened, the wave of fire hit him and sent him straight into the statue at the end of the room. As the dust cloud faded everyone could see that the sand armor had turned into glass and Gaara was trapped inside.

"It wouldn't be smart for you to continue this fight. After all, you're almost completely out of your sand." Shu said, but suddenly Shu sensed something and the glass shattered before sand seemed to flow out of the floor and cover the Jinchuriki as it carried him into the air '_That's…'_

"Hey. What's going on?" Naruto asked.

"What's he thinking? Bringing that thing out now?" Kankuro asked.

The sand then completely covered Gaara before assuming the shape of a raccoon and Shu jumped up and landed on Blue Dragon to avoid all the sand which now covered the entire floor.

"Heh… I wasn't expecting Shukaku to come out like that." Shu said before thinking '_At least he's nowhere near his full size, meaning that Gaara isn't using the Biju's full power.'_

Shu then formed a Dragon Scale before throwing it at the over-sized raccoon, and suddenly all of the sand retracted back into him as he shrunk. Soon after, Shukaku had been completely pulled back into Gaara who now had the Dragon Scale where his seal was.

"I placed a Dragon Scale which strengthens the seal to the point where it can never be broken on you." Shu said as he landed on the floor in front of Gaara who was on his arms and knees on the floor, panting "The Dragon Scale has also cut off all connection with your tenant permanently. Though you'll still be able to control sand." Shu then turned around and started to walk away as he recalled Blue Dragon, but suddenly the sand which Gaara had attempted to catch him in earlier lashed out and covered his entire body except for his head.

"This battle isn't over yet." Gaara said as he held out his right arm.

'_This is…!'_ Shino thought, recognizing the technique.

"Shu-san!" Naruto yelled.

"Heh. This battle's over." Kankuro said.

"You got me, but do you really have the guts to carry out the attack? To end my life just like that?" Shu asked as he looked over his shoulder at Gaara "Well? Do you?" His eyes then suddenly turned a golden color and vertical slits appeared in the middle, and Gaara suddenly saw his own death at Shu's hand before screaming as the sand fell off the Ryu-nin.

"Hayate-san, this battle is over." Shu said.

"The winner of the 12th round battle is Namikaze Shu!" Hayate announced as Shu walked back up the stairs.

"Gaara!" Temari yelled as she and Kankuro jumped down before running towards their younger brother as a team of medics arrived.

'_He dodged nearly every attack that Gaara threw at him, was able to strengthen the seal to the point of where it can't be broken, and was even able to psyche out Gaara. Shu of Ryugakure… just who are you?'_ Baki thought as he observed the boy.

"Way to go, Shu-san! I knew you could do it!" Naruto exclaimed as Shu came back to where the others were.

'_Phew… It's finally over…'_ Hayate thought.

'_At last… the finals…'_ Hiruzen thought.

"Uh… Well then, as of this moment, the preliminaries to the third exam are now complete!" Hayate said and shortly afterwards were Hiruzen standing in front of the statue with the three proctors in front of him and in front of them again were the ones that have advanced to the next exam with the exception of Bouquet. From right to left, they were Shino, Neji, Shikamaru, Kankuro, Temari, Jiro, Shu, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Dosu.

"To those of you who won your bouts and qualified for the finals of the third phase of the Chunin exams – although one of you isn't here, cough – congratulations!" Hayate said.

_'Including the absent Ra Bouquet, there are… six Konoha… two Suna ninja… one Oto… and three Ryu… hmm.'_ Hiruzen thought before saying "Well then… starting now… I shall be explaining the finals…"

_'Okay! Finally!'_ Naruto thought.

Konoha

Somewhere in the village were Orochimaru leaning at a column and Kabuto was kneeling in front of him.

"The preliminaries have safely concluded… they will now proceed to the finals." Kabuto said.

"How tranquil… or rather… how naively peaceful this nation has become… while all the other countries are busy with military expansion races…" Orochimaru said.

"So if we strike now…?" Kabuto asked as he stood up on his feet.

"Well, yes… although I doubt it would be any fun to kill that feeble old geezer…" Orochimaru said.

"… Are you so sure of yourself…? To me… it still seems like you're faltering. Soon, the powers of each hidden village will collide and enter a fierce, lengthy conflict… Otogakure will be one of those involved… and you're planning to be the trigger of that… and to that end, that boy… he's a bullet, right? Uchiha Sasuke-kun, was it…?" Kabuto said.

"Heh… your insights are disgustingly accurate…" Orochimaru said.

"Well, obviously not… because I didn't know about Dosu, Zaku and Kin. When I was assigned to gather intelligence on Sasuke-kun… I wanted to understand the power of those three Oto ninja. I made a foolish tactical error… I even provoked them into attacking me… and overestimated my own defenses. It seems… you still don't put your full trust in me… isn't that right?" Kabuto said.

"Those three are so inconsequential… is it really necessary for me to tell of such trivialities? You're my right- hand man… that itself is evidence of my trust. That's why… I was thinking of entrusting Sasuke-kun to you… the curse mark I put on him… it seems it's been sealed by that pesky by that pesky Shu-kun's Dragon Scale… not that it's of much consequence. But before the darkness in his soul is extinguished… I want you to kidnap as soon as possible." Orochimaru said.

"How unlike you… you're worried!" Kabuto said.

"There is something causing a bit of concern…" Orochimaru said.

"You mean… Uzumaki Naruto-kun?" Kabuto asked.

_'Heh… a sharp child, indeed…' _Orochimaru thought before saying "Sasuke-kun is an embodiment of vengeance… his sole reason for living is the desire to kill his older brother. Until he achieves that goal, he cannot die. And yet… when we fought each other… even though he knew he couldn't prevail against me… he came at me without any fear of death. And I hadn't thought he was a child who would rush so eagerly to his demise… according to your notes, it seems that his contact with the Kyubi child… is changing Sasuke-kun's purpose and his soul. Since Naruto-kun possesses so much influence over Sasuke-kun… I must separate them immediately… as soon as I can, I've got to stain him with my colors…" Orochimaru said.

"Well then…" Kabuto said as he turned around and started walking.

"Kabuto-kun… you…" Orochimaru said, catching the Oto spy's attention "If you want to stop me… your only chance is to kill Sasuke-kun now. There's no way you could kill me, eh? Even if you're strong… you're no stronger than Kakashi, so…" As the snake Sannin said this, Kabuto sweated heavily as he got nervous "Heh… I'm joking… now… you may go! I'm putting my trust in you…" Kabuto then smirked slightly before shunshining away as Orochimaru thought _'Heh… that face… I wonder what he's thinking…'_

Forest of Death, tower, arena

"As I mentioned earlier, you will conduct your final round matches in front of everyone. Each of you represents the battle strengths of your respective lands… so we want you to exhibit and fully showcase your various talents. And thus the finals… will commence one month from now!" Hiruzen said.

"We're not doing it right here, right now?" Naruto asked.

"We call this the requisite preparation period…" Hiruzen said.

"What do you mean?" Neji asked.

"Well… it's a period of time that allows us to relay the results of the preliminaries to the rulers and shinobi leaders of each land… and to summon them to the finals… and it also serves as a preparation period for you applicants." Hiruzen said.

_'This old geezer, he always beats around the bush…'_ Kankuro thought before saying "I still don't get it! What do you mean?"

"You must prepare to understand your enemy and understand yourself. During this period, you can analyze the intelligence you have gathered on your foes during the preliminaries… and use it to increase your chances of victory. Even though – up to this point – all the battles have been real battles… you were conducted on the premise that you were fighting an "unknown enemy"…" Hiruzen said.

_'… Well, yeah…! I never dreamed that that spook from Suna would use sand as a weapon…'_ Shikamaru thought.

"However, the finals are a different story… some of you probably ended up exposing everything you've got in front of your rivals… and some of you may have gone up against comparatively strong opponents and found yourselves badly injured. In order to make the finals fair and just, we give you this month. Each of you must embrace the opportunity to practice hard, learn some new tricks… and of course get some rest, as well!" Hiruzen said.

'_At this rate, it won't be enough… Just one month… there's no way I'll have the luxury of any relaxation.'_ Naruto thought.

"So… those are the basics. I would like to let you all go now, but first… there's one last thing we must do for the finals." Hiruzen said.

"Hey, come on! I need to start training now!" Naruto yelled.

"Now then, don't be so impatient… there are slips of paper inside the box Anko is holding… each of you, take one." Hiruzen said.

"I'll come around, so line up, okay?" Anko said.

She then walked over to Dosu who then put his hand into the box while Anko said "One per person!" After Dosu had taken up one of the paper slips, Anko went over to Sasuke, then Sakura, Naruto, Shu, Jiro, Temari, Kankuro, Shikamaru, Neji and finally Shino.

"All right… does everybody have one now…? Then… starting at the left, each of you read out the number written on your slip!" Hiruzen said as Ibiki prepared to write down their names on a small score-board that he was holding.

"I have 4." Dosu said.

"3." Sasuke said.

"5." Sakura said.

"1." Naruto said.

"12." Shu said.

"11." Jiro said.

"7." Temari said.

"10." Kankuro said.

"8." Shikamaru said.

"2." Neji said.

"9." Shino said.

"So Ra will be number 6…" Ibiki said.

"Good! And now I will reveal… the match order for the tournament-style finals!" Hiruzen said.

"What?" Naruto yelled.

"So that's what the drawing was for?" Shikamaru yelled.

"Well, Ibiki, show them the pairings." Hiruzen said.

"Yes sir…" Ibiki said before he showed the Genin the score-board.

The first battle was between Naruto and Neji, the second was Sasuke vs Dosu, then it was Sakura vs Bouquet, followed by Temari vs Shikamaru, then it was Shino vs Kankuro, and finally it was Jiro vs Shu. Also since there were six quarter-final matches, that would mean that there were three semi-final matches, so the final match would be a battle-royale between the three winners of the semi-finals.

'_Uchiha Sasuke… Finally!'_ Dosu thought.

'_Nani? The finals are a simple tournament…?'_ Temari thought.

'_Man, I've got to fight another girl? What a drag.'_ Shikamaru thought.

'_So for the second round I'm up against either Jiro who fought and defeated that Lee kid without much problem, or Shu who defeated Gaara.'_ Kankuro thought.

'_Jiro, eh? Heh, the audience is gonna get quite a show.'_ Shu thought.

'_So I'm up against Naruto in the second round, eh?'_ Sasuke thought as a smile crept up on his lips as he had no doubt that his blond teammate would beat the Hyuga '_… Perfect!'_

'_I'm up against Bouquet? I don't think I'm up for that…'_ Sakura thought as she began to doubt her chances in the finals.

'… _Perfect.'_ Neji thought as he wanted the blond to learn his place.

'_Hyuga Neji, right off the bat? I never dreamed of a better opponent.'_ Naruto thought as he stared towards Neji from the corner of his eyes.

"Now then… it's time for you to go plan your strategies, rest up, or whatever you please. We're all finished here… unless any of you have questions?" Hiruzen said and Shikamaru raised his hand.

"May I?" The Nara asked.

"Sure!" Hiruzen said.

"You said this is a tournament, so… there's only one winner, right…? Then… does that mean only one person gets to become a Chunin?" Shikamaru asked.

"No! That's not the case. For the finals, you will be observed by many judges… not only me, but… the Kazekage and the rulers and shinobi leaders of countries that will be requesting missions, as well. Based on your performance in the tournament, those judges will assign you an absolute value… and all those who are deemed to have sufficient ability to be a Chunin… Even those who may have lost in the first round can become Chunin." Hiruzen explained.

"Do you mean… it's possible that all of us here could become Chunin?" Temari asked.

"Hai. However it is also possible… that none of you will become Chunin! The advantage of fighting in more rounds in the tournament is in having a greater number of opportunities to display your talents for the judges. Does that answer your question, Shikamaru?" Hiruzen said.

_'Geez… he didn't have to throw it back in my face…_' Shikamaru thought.

"Well then, good work, all! You are dismissed until one month from now!" Hiruzen said.

'_My second round will be against Sasuke… I've got to train really hard if I wanna beat him.'_ Naruto thought as he remembered all of the times he had lost to the Uchiha back at the academy '_I'd better ask Kakashi-sensei for help.'_

Naruto then ran towards the stairs which Kakashi, Guy, Logi, Asuma, Kurenai and Ino were currently walking down.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei! I need you to train me!" Naruto said as Sasuke and Sakura also came over.

"Sorry, Naruto, but I've got other things that I need to attend to." Kakashi said and Naruto's head slumped before he looked up at Kakashi again.

"You're going to train Sasuke, aren't you?" The blond yelled.

"Well, there are certain things that only I can teach him. But I know someone who'd be a much better teacher for you." Kakashi said.

"Oh? Who?" Naruto asked.

"Who do you think?" Naruto then turned around to see Shu standing there.

"Ah! Shu-san! Are you the one who's going to teach me?" Naruto asked.

"What'd you expect? Before we start though, there's a little something I would like you to do for me." Shu said.

"And what's that?" Naruto asked.

Konoha Hospital, Gaara's room

Gaara was lying on a bed in the hospital as Baki, Kankuro and Temari were there, watching over him. Suddenly the door opened and everyone looked towards it to see one they hadn't been expecting, Uzumaki Naruto.

Land of Earth, Isolated Valley, Michael statue

In a valley which is pretty isolated from the rest of the world were two figures currently walking. The two figures were none other than Momochi Zabuza and Yu Haku.

After the wave incident, Zabuza and Haku had resumed their traveling, hoping to find a client with a butt-load of cash and willing to use a couple of missing-nins. They hadn't had very much luck though, and were currently in the Land of Earth, looking for a client.

Suddenly Haku noticed something and he stopped walking before staring off to his left.

"What is it, Haku?" Zabuza asked as he turned around.

"I'm not sure…" Haku said before walking off towards where he had been looking as Zabuza followed.

The two of them reached the edge of a large crater, and in the middle of said crater was what looked like the statue of a T-Rex with wings. They also noticed that around the statue were many people – obviously shinobi – who had Hitai-ates with a musical note on them… the mark of Otogakure!

"What do you think they're doing?" Haku asked.

"I don't know. But I've got a bad feeling about this." Zabuza said.

Chapter preview

Shu "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Summons a dragon) "This Jutsu is called the Kuchiyose no Jutsu. And by the time of the finals I'll make sure that you've mastered it."

Kluke "Alright, Sakura, time for you to begin your training."

**Kyubi "You really think you can control my power? Don't make me laugh!"**

Sasuke "Jiro, tell me how to unlock those eyes!"

Jiro "I'd be happy to… After you've forgotten about your stupid revenge!"

Kabuto "Well, hello there, Sasuke-kun."

Naruto "You're not the only Jinchuriki here…"

Jiraiya "Next time on Naruto's Blue Dragon: Training!"

Naruto "… I'm a Jinchuriki too." (Gaara's eyes widens)

Character status

Sasuke: Level: 11

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Katon: Goukakyo, Katon: Housenka, Katon: Ryuka, Fire Sword, Fire.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.

Shadow: Minotaur.

Bouquet: Level: unknown.

Techniques: Invisibility, Hippopon Hippotoma Transform.

Weapons: none

Shadow: Hippopotamus.

Kabuto: Level: 27

Techniques: unknown.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Sakura: Level: 8

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Fire.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Shadow: Phoenix.

Ino: Level: 7

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Shintenshin, Ino-Shika-Cho (with Shikamaru and Choji).

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Jiro: Level: unknown.

Techniques: Katon: Goukakyo (white), Shinus Sword, Thunderus.

Weapons: sword.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan, Neo-Sharingan.

Shadow: Minotaur.

Rock Lee: Level: 14

Techniques: Konoha Senpou, Kagebuyo, Konoha Reppu, Omote Renge, Ura Renge.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Naruto: Level: 13

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Oiroke, Harem, Kage Bunshin, Futon: Kamikaze, Wind Sword, Wind.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Shadow: Blue Dragon.

Kiba: Level: 12

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Jujin Bunshin, Tsuuga, Gatsuuga.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Hinata: Level: 8

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Juken.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan.

Shadow: Hippopotamus.

Neji: Level: 17

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Juken.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan.

Shu: Level: unknown.

Techniques: Futon: Ryukaze, Firus, Blue Explosion, Dragon Scale.

Weapons: none

Shadow: Blue Dragon.

Gaara: Level: 20

Techniques: Suna Bunshin, Suna no Tate, Suna no Yoroi, Sabaku Kyu, Sabaku Soso.

Weapons: none

Kakashi: level: 30

Techniques: Magen: Narakumi, Doton: Shinju zanshu, Doton: Doryuheki, Doton: Moguragakure, Fuja hoin, Katon: Goukakyo, Genjutsu: Sharingan, Kirigakure, Raiton: Kage Bunshin, Taju Kage Bunshin, Sennen Goroshi, Kage Bunshin, Sairento kiringu, Kuchiyose, Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga, Mizu Bunshin, Suiton: Daibakufu, Suiton: Suijinheki, Suiton: Suiryudan, Raikiri, Thundera Sword.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.

Shadow: Cerberus.

Orochimaru: Level: 67

Techniques: Doton: Kage Bunshin, Jagei Jubaku, Gogyo Fuin, Mandara no Jin, Sen'eijashu, Kage Bunshin, Kuchiyose, Kuchiyose: Rashomon, Shoshagan, Futon: Daitoppa, Kanashibari, Sojasosai, Shoshagan, Juinjutsu, Shadowus Sword, Shadowus, Shieldus.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Shadow: Serpent.

**Kurama no Kyubi: **That's it for that chapter. Now I'm afraid that I've reached the end of the month, so you'll have to wait a long time for the next chapter, though you could check out my other stories while waiting. Also before I go over to The Legend of Naruto, I'll be uploading at least two chapters to my newest fic, Naruto: Shinobi Hunters. Oh, and one more thing, if I don't get more reviews soon I'll just skip this story next time I get around to it.


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